The Throne of Bones.

12. Pariah.

"Demons?" Astrá asked confused before backing away from the child that had embraced her. "Where?" 

"Do not jest you witch!" The Orc pointed her curved sword at Astrá causing Dariél and the triplet maids to stand in her way. "I saw you use the dark magic of Ignium with my own two eyes, what's more, you have welcomed the demon into our City!" She roared; her Jade skin tightened around her muscles as she prepared to swing her sword.

"Bree, what is the meaning of this?" Wolfsword came running as soon as he heard the shouting, but had to raise his sword in defence when Bree swung her own at his neck. 

"Do not speak my name so formally, you too are in cahoots with the witch and the Demon, you have cursed us by summoning the Vermillion Dragon!" She rasped.

"You dare accuse I; Okorak Wolfsword of such an act?" Wolfsword hissed parrying her blade away with brute strength, but the gaze of the gathering crowd showed that he had already been judged along with Astrá. "Bree?"

"Lady-Bree-" Astrá began, but the full dozen high Orcs suddenly drew their blades at the small group.

"Do not curse me by calling my name witch!" Bree made an attempt to pass the elves but Miriá stood in her way grabbed her by her leg and yanked it from beneath her causing her to crash into the mucky broken ground. 

"Now listen here." Minto spoke up as Miriá pinned Bree by her hands. "I don't care what you think, or what you want to think, we are in the middle of something important here, and if you hinder us any longer, I'll s*******r every last one of you where you stand." He finished, hugging Shaél's wrapped body firmly.

"The Demon has spoken, he would kill us in an instant!" One of the Orcs backed away before running off. "Eliós has been taken by a Witch and a Demon!" He bellowed as he ran down the road.

Out of nowhere a thick vine slithered around his waist and slammed him into a demolished house rendering him unconscious.

"Astrá, let's please leave here quickly before these ignorant people mob us." Minto turned and began walking again. 

Miriá released Bree and left as well.

As Astrá and the others left, Wolfsword stood alone facing the mass. "Bree, you are wrong-" 

"Save it you traitor." She snapped, spitting at him as she stood.

The thick saliva traveled the seven metres and landed right in his left eye, sliding down his cheek and dripping from his chin.

The crowd broke down into murmurs.

Wolfsword became depressed immediately, after all, Bree Hellsword was his mate, and currently the third in command above his fourth rank at his guild, Thunderscar. 

Now that she had publicly ridiculed him, he had no guild or home to return to.

He stood there facing them for a few moments more before he raised his sword.

As he did this they all tensed, then stayed tense as he sheathed his large sword.

"So be it then." Wolfsword used his bare hand, infusing his nails with raw magic and clawed into his left arm which sported the Thunderscar Guild's tattoo.

"Out of respect for the bond we shared, I will not fight against you, but know this Bree, I am innocent of your accusations, if you ever show yourself before me again with these false accusations, I will show no mercy, I will forget our past, I will kill you." Wolfsword swore as he turned and ripped his cape bearing the Thunderscar insignia off his armour in his retreat.

As they reached the Crimson Fortress' gates, Astrá sighed and opened them. 

"My savior, I know you do not plan on staying in a place where you have been accused, I wish to accompany you on your quest for Ashrótt's head, and your journey to Néthark to the Throne of Bones." She said as they entered the front door. "But first, let us give lady Shaél the proper send-off she deserves, that her soul may be at peace." 

For a whole week, thousands of small fairies gathered around the walls of Astrá's home paying their respect to the fallen Elf of legend, one of the oldest living beings aside the dragons had died, and they made sure the whole of Idgiá knew it, so the fairies kept coming and going, paying their respects.

Because of the spacial magic that protected it her home had been completely unscathed while most of Eliós had been ruined, this only further served to boost the rumours that she was a witch with Demon contracts left, right, and centre.

At the end of the ceremonies, Shaél's preserved and adorned body was set ablaze by crimson fire on an altar of magical stone beneath the Midnight's star on the ninth day of the week with few to witness as her ashes turned to magicule and vanished into the winds. 

"From magicule we once came, and back to the great mother Titon we will return." Wolfsword saluted with the handle of his sword at his chest and his hands wrapped around the blade that trickled with his blood.

Similarly too Astrá, Minto, Miriá, and every one of the elf servants all had blades at their chests with small trickles of blood dripping along the tips.

Everyone wore crimson gowns with golden trim on the edges.

"Be at peace." All of them murmured consecutively one after the other.

As the ceremony came to a close, Wolfsword approached Minto and Astrá, who were conversing in private.

"Young Lord and lady." He stood a respectable distance allowing them to conclude their conversation.

"Do you truly aim to go after the Vermilion Beast?" He asked somewhat hoarsely.

"I am." Minto nodded. "Twice now, I have lost precious people to that damned dragon, I cannot rest until I have killed him."

"Such strong words coming from a boy of only fourteen." Astrá sighed. "Nevertheless, I owe my every breath to my savior, and have decided to devote my life to the fulfillment of his desires, whatever path he chooses I will also, and I also wish to rid the world of Ashrótt, that monster must die." 

"Fifteen actually." Minto looked to the side. "I turned fifteen a month ago, but I was engrossed in training and forgot."

The others nodded to his confession.

"I am coming with you then." Wolfsword folded his fist and extended it toward them.

"Good." Minto smiled and bumped fists with the Orc. "Prepare for departure then, we leave at the second sun's rising." 

"We will become a force dedicated to the ruin of the dragons and their kingdom." Miriá approached from the side. 

"With just the four of us?" Wolfsword smirked at Miriá. 

"The Dragons have wronged all of Idgiá, we will seek out the powerful as we journey, I am confident that many will join our cause, now everyone go and set your affairs in order, come daylight we leave this damned city." Astrá turned from the group and began her trot back to the mansion.

Behind her went Wolfsword, and then the many servants from the household.

"Miriá, do you remember how to make the Kilokloth?" Minto turned to the only remaining body close to him. "I lost all of mine."

"Luckily, runes take little to no magical power at all to formulate and create, I can make as much as you want on our journey to Néthark, and I believe I had made at least a hundred or so feet of it when Lady-Shaél was teaching me, though, mine don't have the same magic-supressing ability as hers, there's a large gap in that area but they have the same weight proficiency.

"That's perfect, can you help me wrap them?" Minto asked already in the process of taking off his gown and walking toward the middle of the training grounds.

Miriá sighed, but followed nonetheless. "Minto, you will need to work on your manners, you need some polishing."

"What need is there for something like that when we are about to become savages?" Minto craned his neck to look at her as they walked. 

He was shocked when her knuckle came crashing in the side of his head sending him pitching forward to his stomach.

"Savages?" Miriá held a motherly expression as she stooped over him grinding her teeth menacingly. "I'll personally punch bad manners out of you." 

"Here's perfect." Minto sat up and took off his shirt. "Whenever you're ready Miriá." He looked at her.

"Don't ignore what I said you..."

"That's too much of a headache right now let's just focus on this first." He held up his arms and spread his wings wide. 

"I said don't ignore me!" Miriá smacked him upside the head, but he merely took the abuse without a word of protest. 

She ground her teeth again and then pulled out a pen from her person with a sharp glowing pink crystal at its tip instead of an ink or charcoal point.

"Oh, is that new?" Minto looked at the device curiously.

"Astrá gave it to me a day ago, the crystal tip automatically attracts magicule toward me limitlessly, though the amount it attracts is small it helps me to easily control the magicule it has collected, so drawing runes is much easier now."

"Okay." 

A vein almost popped from Miriá's forehead as Minto seemed to be annoying her spitefully. "Don't ask if you'll react like a rock!" She snapped at him, but opened her mouth wide when Minto began chuckling. "You really are messing with me?" She asked embarrassed.

"You make an easy target with that temper Miriá, now c'mon, we have some stuff to pack as well." 

She swiftly drew a small and simple rune on a small smooth rock and it expanded into a huge reel of Kilokloth causing Minto to gasp as he laughed.

She couldn't hold his behavior against him, since the very start, this was the first time she had seen him smile, and his laugh was as innocent as a child's.

She honestly felt relieved spending time around him when he wasn't tense for once.

"Minto?" Miriá called to him after an awkward hour of wrapping him. "Are you okay?"

"This is much heavier than Shaél's Kilokloth." Minto shook as he walked back with her. 

"I made it for myself." She scratched her cheek. "You have the powers of a Faery, that alone makes you a force of powerful magic, but my mother was a High Orc, and my father a Hobgoblin, I inherited nothing but brute strength."

"And your mother's beauty, she was a stunning woman to behold no less graceful than a High Elf, I remember healing her of poisoning once and falling speechless." Minto straightened his back and swung his hands as he walked not turning to meet Miriá's stunned gaze. "And here you are, surpassing her beauty while your body has yet to properly develop, I'll really have to look out for you in a year or so, or you really might get stolen away."

"Don't speak such words so carelessly, I'll break your skull!" Miriá was burning up a storm behind him.

"Relax you violent woman." All I said is that you're only gonna get prettier, I wouldn't desire that anything happen to you so I'll watch your back, jeez." Minto pouted but them perked as they were about to enter the mansion.

"I'll grab some cake from the kitchen and go to the terrace after we've packed, will you join me?" Miriá asked as they began climbing the stairs, Minto was still flexing his limbs to adjust to the weight so turned to her only for a second and nodded before they parted ways at the top.

"They've drawn closer since the death of their mentor." Astrá said to Wolfsword while they began their tread up the carpeted stairs. 

"Aye, that boy has an aura that attracts people to him, most likely because he is strong." The Orc replied before they too parted at the top. "Astrá, I will see you at dawn."

"Good night." She replied before vanishing around a corner.

The next eleven hours of the night were spent quietly for everyone who decided to part from the Crimson Fortress, except for Minto and Miriá, who laughed and talked loudly on her terrace until the first sun began washing away the shroud of night.