Chapter 166: Never Just a Body

Jovis, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 59th day of Fall, Arenfall

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"Is anyone there?" Prince Arterius shouted. "Stolas? Are you out there?" He called his ward as he rose from his bed.

Nobody was around to tend to him, for some reason, Stolas his trusted friend and ward was gone from their tent. Obviously, after the incident, people would be busy tending to those unfortunate knights who lose their lives fighting the winged beast. But for all he knew, Stolas wasn't the type of person who would leave him with leaving a notice at the side of his bed, letting him know about a few errands he must attend. However, he wasn't able to see a single letter or a note near him.

Outside seemed to be eerily quiet as well. There was not a hint of the usual buzzing sounds coming from knights roaming around or the sound of clanging metal from the smithy a walking distance from their tent. The usual noise of neighing horses passing by their tent was also unheard of.

Curiosity got the better of him, Prince Arterius decided to peek outside and see what was happening. He stood up and limped his way into the flap covering his tent. He swayed the flap to the side and was surprised to see everything covered in pitch black darkness.

He couldn't see anything in the thicket of darkness let alone a living soul. Still, he tried calling out as he tried his best to find some logic in this ridiculous place that he was in.

"Godfather? Servus 305-M?" He looked around and tried to listen for any response, but the silence was deafening. "Stolas? Are you there? Are you hiding somewhere?" He shouted at the top of his lungs, but still there was nothing.

In the distance he saw a glimmering light coming towards him. He squinted and tried to make sense of what it was. The figure became clearer the more it came closer to him. To his horror, the gleaming light was in fact sharp glaring teeth from the eye-less bat monster he saw killed earlier.

Suddenly his body froze, and his heart began to pound harder than it usually was.  He tried to run away, but his body wouldn't move an inch.  His breathing was becoming erratic as the monster got close. The beast hovered right above him. It flaunted its tongue right in front of him as its lips awkwardly curled into a sinister smile. Prince Arterius watched in horror as the monster swooped in for the kill.

"Arrggh!" He shouted as he rose in his bed. He looked around and saw Stolas rushing towards him with ink splattered all over his face. "Stolas?!" He shouted in surprise.

"What happened to you?" Stolas said as he held his friend shoulders trying to call him down. "You're safe here! You're safe! Please, calm down!" He gently put back Prince Arterius back to his bed.

"S-stolas? I-is that…really you?" Prince Arterius said as he tried catching his breath. Beads of cold sweat ran down his face and his body shivered just by thinking about it. "I-is this for rea— Oww!" His ward pinched his arm as hard he could to get him back on his senses.

"What do you think?" Stolas sarcastically asked. "Is that a dream to you? Or should I slap you in the face to get you convinced?" His ward added.

"Damn you, Stolas!" Prince Arterius hissed before laughing like a mad man. "That pinch was more than enough to confirm it." He patted his ward's shoulder.

His ward smiled at him and went to the table to prepare his tea. Prince Arterius looked around inside the tent, everything seemed to be in place. He closed his eyes and tried listening to the goings on outside of the tent. It was uniquely serene for the place. There were less horses roaming around and less people chattering outside.

"What happened after…that?" He asked Stolas who was preparing a simple tea for him.

Stolas stopped stirring his tea and looked at him straight in the eyes. "After you fainted," He began. "They took the monster's corpse and placed it under 305-M's care. He's currently vivisecting that anomaly now…or may be who knows what god's forbidden thing he's doing with it right now!" He shrugged his shoulder.

Prince Arterius lept out of his bed and immediately asked to be escorted to the tent Stolas have mentioned. Initially, his ward didn't want him there. But after persisting hard about it, his ward finally gave in to him.

They went to the farthest edge of the camp where he same a huge profile of knights surrounding the area. There were stone pillars placed at the front of the tent. The stone had elven runes written all over it, a trademark of his godfather's skill.

They went past the knights guiding the entrance, the men simply bowed when they saw him approaching and asked nothing about his reason for being there. After passing the first set of security, the knights standing in front of the tent met them halfway and asked for their reason of coming there.

"Should the prince also introduce himself to you now?" Stolas asked the knights.

The knights paled at what Stolas said and let them in without anymore questions.  Stolas smiled at him and guided him inside where Lord Prestonheim and Servus 305-M were miraculously together…well, at some extent.

His godfather sat silently at the other end of the tent; his blade unsheathed. At the center of the tent laid the body of the monster. Its wings tied and stretched covering huge portions of the tent. Beside the carcass was his former mentor, whistling while inspecting the insides of the monster.

"Ah, Prince Arterius you're finally awake!" 305-M said while continuing to tinker the entrails of the dead monster. "Hmm…you missed the fun part! You should've seen how I opened this beast—oh, I mean how he opened it up!" He pointed at Lord Prestonheim who glared at the red-haired slave.

"You shouldn't be here, Prince Arterius." Lord Prestonheim said. "You already fainted once—"

"I know, godfather…" Prince Arterius sighed. "But I still have to know these things! I have to understand the enemy no matter how terrifying they are." He explained.

"Good! Come closer then!" 305-M asked.

"No, he does not!" Lord Prestonheim stood up from his seat and spat at 305-M.

"It's okay, godfather…I think…I—bleurg…I can do it!" He held himself from vomiting from the stench and gory scene in front of him.

"Oh, I found something very interesting!" His former mentor excitingly told him as he brought him a basin with the monster's heart on. "See this? You recognize this?" The red-haired slave said as he pointed the glowing piece of aetherium lodged in its heart.

"Aetherium? How?" Prince Arterius wanted to touch it but was afraid to do so. "Was this fragment lodged in its heart while it was still alive?" He asked.

"Yes, obviously." 305-M dryly answered. "That gives us the theory now that this aetherium can be used for transformations! Although, on that slave's blade it acted differently." His brow furrowed at the puzzling find.

"Who do you mean?" Prince Arterius asked.

"He meant Adaloun and the gladius he had." Lord Prestonheim interjected. "That man apparently had his blade fused with aetherium and if 305-M is to be believed, he said that Adaloun could also control the blade at his will." He approached them and looked at the heart with disgust.

"You might have seen him do it too?!" 305-M asked the silver-haired Commander.

Lord Prestonheim stood silent for a moment before he answered. "No, I'm afraid I haven't everything was a blur to me that night we've been attacked." He crossed his arms.

"Well, too bad for you!" 305-M commented. He placed the basin back at the table and sat on its edge. "I am still not finished with this beast. But from what I have gather, we can initially infer what this thing is."

Prince Arterius nodded his head silently. He wanted to hear his former mentor's report on the carcass and its connection to the future of his expedition.

"Well, for starters, this beast was a former person and I think you can agree with me on this, August!" 305-M pointed at his godfather. "This was no monster. His body tells me that he wasn't some monster who changed into a human. Albeit, it's the other way around.  He was a man who got transformed into a monster! Which leads me to my second observation."

"And that is?" Prince Arterius anxiously asked.

"Yes, of course!" 305-M cleared his throat. "The aetherium I found was used as a medium for him to change. I do not know how it was placed there, but whoever did it, is pretty dangerous. I wouldn't keep my hopes up for those people trapped inside the hole, Prince Arterius. They might be like him already, but it's up to you! One more thing and I found this very interesting, it seemed like aetherium could be used in different ways. I mean, this is where the aetherite was modeled after from and I think this has more potency than just that of lighting baubles and enhancing weapons! His former mentor smiled at him.

"You couldn't be more obvious with that, do you?" Lord Prestonheim spat.

"Well, I know that I was but at this time, our little prince here, is at the brink of discovering something magnificent! Although he has to compete with the danger of finding it." 305-M looked at him with eyes filled with madness and excitement.