Rune System: The Crimson Knight

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Do you need anything else, sir?”

Donning a new, sleek, all-black suit, Draàl shifted his stare from the passing cloud formations outside the window of Michael Craig’s luxurious private jet to the flight attendant addressing him from the spacious aisle. “Anything else?”

“Yes, sir.” She flashed a charming smile that matched the radiance in her chestnut eyes. “Mr. Craig had instructed to provide you with everything you need at all times, so I’m just making sure you’re comfortable and not lacking anything.”

Draàl stared at her closely. She was incredibly beautiful—and seemed quite young, too—with her auburn hair braided and wrapped into a bun beneath an oblong cap, which matched the wooden-brown theme of the uniform she wore.

But that wasn’t what Draàl observed.

He noticed the aura around her, how faint it appeared. In contrast to Michael, who’d radiated a strong energy signal like a beacon, she looked plain. Weak, even.

“No Rune System, I suppose,” he mumbled.

“What was that, sir?” she asked, leaning closer.

“I said I’m quite comfortable,” Draàl lied, waving a hand over the tray before him, carrying plates left with crumbs and morsels of eaten food. “You’ve given me a meal and enough drinks for an army, and the flight so far has been nothing short of spectacular. You, and everyone involved, have all done extremely well.”

“Oh.” The attendant chuckled nervously, with color creeping into her rosy cheeks. “I’m glad to hear that, sir. Please enjoy the rest of your flight.”

“She likes you,” Zha’irah noted as the young lady strode away, disappearing behind blue silk curtains at the end of the aisle. “Anyone would hear her heart racing from miles away.”

“How intriguing,” Draàl said, his voice dripping with nonchalance. “I wasn’t aware you had a sense of humor, Zha’irah.”

“All work and no play makes me a dull guide,” she quipped. “On a side note, you have been progressing rather quickly with your abilities. You used fire when you first awoke, now you have unlocked your sight.”

“My sight? Care to throw more light on that?”

“Every living thing possesses a form of energy that envelops their being,” Zha’irah explained. “Aura, vitality, radiation… however you wish to see it. For people who have unraveled their Rune System, they emit a more potent form of energy around themselves, and there are only a handful of such that can see the rune aura of others. You are one of the few. That’s your Sight.”

Draàl looked at his hands. Like invisible flames, he could see a robust, red halo dancing around his fingers, emitting even more power than what he’d seen hanging over Michael.

“Like the young woman earlier,” Zha’irah continued, “most humans without a Rune System have a weak aura surrounding them, and the same can be said about those whose abilities are present but inert. For rune sorcerers, on the other hand, the strength of their radiation directly reflects the level of their abilities. That is why you have a more powerful rune aura than Michael Craig, because you are much stronger.”

“I see.” Draàl squinted slightly. “So, apparently, rune sorcery is a thing.”

“Oh, it was. Over five-hundred years ago, that is. At the peak of its mastery and practice, being born with a Rune System was considered the norm. So much so that people without abilities of any sort were regarded as a stain to the magic society; a bad fruit to be discarded.”

“Huh. Seems like much has changed over the course of five centuries.”

“Indeed,” Zha’irah agreed. “Over time, people changed, priorities shifted, and a major transition of power cemented the place of the runeless over sorcerers.”

Draàl frowned. “The runeless? That’s what people without a Rune System were called?”

“Quite so, yes. In the Great Revolution, many of such individuals gathered to form a sect so united that they were able to defeat and imprison numerous rune sorcerers. Some offered to serve the new order of rulers, others preferred to be slaughtered. From then, in the generations that followed, the presence of magic within people began to wither and thin out. More and more were being born runeless.”

“And the Dark Queen?” Draàl inquired. “Where was she in all this?”

“Yet to be conceived,” Zha’irah replied patiently. “She was born in a hostile time for magical individuals. Where they were either forced to swear their allegiance to pathetically corrupt runeless kings or risk losing their heads. Her family could only conceal her abilities for so long, but she was different. Even among the other sorcerers, her rune aura always shone the brightest.”

“Fascinating,” Draàl muttered as he peered through the window once more. “I asked Mr. Craig for a plane to Peru because you told me to, but I’m still clueless as to why we’re headed there.”

As he waited for a response, he was suddenly plunged into complete darkness. It took him a second to realize that Zha’irah had dragged him into his mind, with his body being placed in a deep trance.

“How about you tell me first before hauling me into the abyss in my head?” he asked with a scowl.

Zha’irah remained silent. As he floated in the seemingly endless black void, objects began to appear before him. Three, to be specific, with each item enclosed in a bright red halo.

“On your own, you bear immense strength,” Zha’irah finally spoke, her voice echoing through the darkness. “But releasing the Queen would require additional power, for her prison is heavily guarded by those who loathe and fear her.”

Draàl watched the objects—an ancient medallion; a full, red, scaly battle armor; and a double-edged sword with a red-hot blade—as they became more visible, spacing themselves out while hovering. “And these artifacts are my additional power?”

“Yes. With the Blood Amulet, the Dragon Armor, and the Scarlet Blade, your abilities would be concentrated and reinforced, thereby enabling you to reach your full potential.”

“Seems easy enough,” Draàl concluded calmly. “All I have to do is retrieve the artifacts and use them in liberating the Queen.”

“If only it were that simple.”

Red lines suddenly appeared from nowhere, quickly spreading across the vast, black void like multiple bleeding rivers. Soon enough, the lines formed an enormous outline of the world map, with all seven continents and the countries within captured in the display. The artifacts began drifting away individually, settling over different locations on the map.

“Your mission begins in Peru because the Blood Amulet lies there,” Zha’irah informed. “After you retrieve it, your next location is in West Africa, where the Dragon Armor has wound up over the last decade. Lastly, in Switzerland, the Scarlet Blade has recently become the prize collection of a very wealthy and ignorant business mogul. Only after you have collected all three items can you go after the main prize.”

Draàl felt the heat of an open flame singeing his back. Laden with curiosity, he turned around, coming face to face with a black box the size of a basketball, floating a few yards away. The aura emanating from the cube was so intense that Draàl felt like he stood right before the mouth of an active volcano.

“Even in simulation, the Obsidian Dimension releases great folds of energy,” Zha’irah said. “The power required to seal the Queen, coupled with her own colossal rune aura, is responsible for the tremendous amount of radiation it gives off.”

Draàl stared closely at the box, noting its dark, glassy appearance and the distinctive rune symbols etched on all six of its sides.

“That’s the Queen’s prison?”

“It is. Although the final objective of your mission, it is not your immediate priority. Gather your weapons and fortify your powers. Only then can you go about setting the Queen free.”

Draàl suddenly found himself back in his window seat of the VIP cabin, just as the pilot’s voice broke through the speakers.

“This is your captain speaking. Welcome to the beautiful capital city of Lima, Peru. It’s past 5pm in the evening, and the temperature is a very cool twenty-seven degrees. On behalf of the flight crew, we truly hope you’ve enjoyed your trip.”

“And so it begins,” Zha’irah said as Draàl took a deep breath, rising to his feet.

“And so it begins.”