“KAAARRCCKK!!” The airborne Kalligor thundered once more before taking a dive straight towards the plaza.

The scramble for cover had caused many people to become injured, and many were still out in the open.

*CRASH!* It landed on top of the cage containing the imprisoned Kalligor. Two yellow eyes leered at the surrounding knights menacingly while its tail swept at those behind it.

“Do not let it break that cage! Knights, surround it! Mages try and keep it from flying!” The old knight commanded.

Seeing more knights closing in on the cage to surround it, the Kalligor quickly raised its body, and pumped its chest.

“SHIELDS!” One of the knights called out. Within seconds, a wall of shields was erected surrounding the Kalligor and cage.

A stream of yellow flame blasted out of the Kalligor’s mouth and collided with a part of the wall, melting the surface of the shields and forcing that part of the wall to break.

From the back, mages formed together and chanted an immobilization incantation, invoking it as soon as the breath attack ceased. The beast suddenly froze, indicating the spell had been successful. Having sealed its movements, other mages start invoking their own magic against the creature.

The initial seven knights broke off from the ranks of the shield wall and jumped straight for the immobilized Kalligor.

“KaaaAACKK!!” The caged Kalligor screeched.

“NO! GET BACK!” One of the mages yelled out.

*Swoosh* the sound of a blade cutting through air could be heard, and in an instant, two of the seven knights had been cut to pieces, while the other five had been repelled and blown backwards. The immobilized Drakall was no longer sitting atop the cage frozen, but was now on the ground in a crouched position ready to strike.

Many of those who had failed to get into a building were watching the spectacle while frozen with fear, as others screamed for their lives.

“HORAN WITH ME! MAGES BIND IT AGAIN!” The old knight called out, walking up to the circle of knights surrounding the Kalligor.

The wall opened up to usher the knight and his adjutant inside.

“Stand back! If this goes bad, evacuate everyone and wait until the reinforcements from the Mystiks guild arrive!” He commanded as he walked in to face the Kalligor.

Two knights stood face to face with the creature that had just cut through two other armored knights. The first and older knight drew a two handed greatsword of azurite blue with a serrated edge and a glowing red gemstone embed into the pommel. The second drew a thin longsword almost as long as the knight himself, the blade was so thin that it almost looked transparent.

As if knowing that these two were dangerous, the Kalligor lowered his stance and gazed at them with its two yellow eyes. Without any warning, it charged.

An iron claw swung horizontally toward the older knight. With deft hands and inhuman reflexes, the knight brought up his greatsword to block the swipe. Using the accelerating momentum of the Kalligor, the knight planted a kick into the creature’s face at the same time with his greaves. On the old knight’s right side, his second had moved into position beside the Kalligor and unleashed a flurry of quick slashes into the Drakall’s left side, before quickly retreating back to avoid the incoming tail. The Kalligor then curled itself up, and spun its wings around like a tornado to defend itself.

In range of the spin attack, the old knight jammed his greatsword into the ground and used it as a shield while his colleague swiftly retreated out of the attack’s perimeter.

“MAGES!” The old knight called out.

“– that we may vanquish it! CONSTRICTION!” The incantation had finished, and black chains of smoke erupted from the palms of the mages flying towards the spinning Kalligor.

The chains started intertwining around the Kalligor, restricting its movements, and stopping the spinning.

The old knight got up from his crouched position behind the greatsword and yanked the sword out. Rushing towards the bound drakall, he aimed for the creature’s head with an overhead slash. Like a guillotine, the greatsword came down upon the Kalligor’s head but missed. The creature was starting to break the binding and the attack carved into its shoulder instead.

Using the opening when the kalligor had been bound, the other knight had also jumped into action. He had swiftly dashed to the side of the Kalligor and while it was focused on the older knight, slashed the creature’s left wing.

“KKUAAAHHH!!!” The Kalligor hissed at the two knights, shooting flames out in front of itself.

Using its uninjured wing, the Kalligor staggered the old knight with a blast of wind and propelling itself back on top of the cage.

Knowing that the Kalligor won’t be flying anywhere, the younger knight bolted toward the cage to get within range.

“KURRACK!!” The caged Kalligor roared.

Due to his close proximity to the cage, the roar momentarily paralyzed him giving the other kalligor an opportunity to strike. A swift tail blow from atop the cage came through and smacked the younger knight right in the chest, throwing him backwards into the shield wall.

“KUARKARCCKK!!!” The caged Kalligor cried out again.

Suddenly the kalligor atop the cage shifted into an odd posture. His eyes unfocused and weaved around the plaza looking at the few gawking onlookers.

“HURRY UP AND EVACUATE NOW!” The old knight shouted out at the top of his lungs.

Those who had deemed it safe to stay within the area and watch the fight were suddenly hit with a sense of dread again.

Spying a gawker in the open to the north side of the plaza, the Kalligor leaped into action: Jumping off the cage, it pounced onto the ground and with a flap of its uninjured wing, propelled itself over the wall of knights and headed straight for the unprotected man.

A few of the knights saw the action and two of them managed to grabbed hold of the beast’s leg as it leaped over them. Crashing on the ground, one was trampled by the beast, while the other managed to let go in time and only incurred minor injuries. True to his title as a knight, he quickly got up and positioned himself between the civilian and the Kalligor, barely managing to deflect a killing blow away from the civilian.

“Get out of here NOW! Be-” He shouted at the spectator but before he could finish, he was blown away into the side of a building, armor and all.

Unluckily for the foolish man, the kalligor brought its wing back and was about to slice him in half.

Dashing through the plaza and right behind the Kalligor, was the old knight was. He had moved the moment the beast changed focus and jumped down from the cage. Catching the motion of the beast coiling itself ready to cut the defenseless man, the old knight quickly focused mana into his legs to facilitate and increase his agility before hurling himself at the beast.

It was all a feint, the real target had been him all along.

The coiled up Kalligor sprang at him with all of the stored up energy, blade-like wings swung at him. The force of the impact caught him in the air, and blew him across the plaza through a vendor’s stall and into the wall of a building. Even with the split second of defense with his sword, the force of the blow had shattered his greatsword, blown away his helmet, and even cracked his reinforced steel chest plate. Bones broken, out of breath, and armed with only a hilt, he barely managed to get up as the jaws of death scrambled toward him.

His knights were yelling and screaming while rushing to his aid, but were too far away. The old knight stood up for one last stand.

Suddenly a young boy caught his eyes. The boy had probably been hiding behind the stalls watching the fight, expecting to see knights like those from his children stories. The old knight attempted to walk forward, yelling at the boy to run away, but instead of fleeing, the boy ran toward him as the Kalligor stormed ever closer.

‘To protect those who cannot protect themselves.’ One of the sacred oaths resounded in his head.  

Without a second thought about his life, he mustered all his strength and grabbed the boy, twisting his body around to protect the child as the shrill sound of razor-sharp wings came upon him.

Holding the child to his chest, as if an illusion glimpsed only on the brink of death, the child’s black hair flashed bright silver for an instant, forcing him to shut his eyes.

The sudden uproar of his knights scrambling and calling for him had gone dead silent and most mysterious of all, he yet retained his life. Scared at what may have occurred, he slowly turned around to find a mass of blood splatters covering the plaza grounds and the few stalls around him.

He saw the faces of his knights, all were frozen, struck with unknown terror and bewilderment.

The boy struggled within his grasp and he slowly released the child.

“Are you alright?” The old knight asked.

“Yes, thank you very much.” The boy answered politely, eyes locked onto his. The boy then walked over to the stall he had been hiding behind and pulled out what appeared to be a bound parcel before walking away.

“Boy! What is it you just took from that stall!?” He yelled out after the boy.

“My books, Sir.” The child replied as he continued out of the plaza.

Watching the young boy walk away nonchalantly, the old knight finally noticed. Blood was dripping from his armor.

—

Inside the large tent in the plaza.

His bloody armor had been taken off, and he was now sitting on a chair. Physicians had prodded and diagnosed his injuries and mended what they could with magic. He was currently sitting alone in a room of the tent waiting.

A younger knight walked into the room.

“Any sign of him?” The old knight anxiously asked.

“No sir. Most of the knights that saw him are currently out looking right now. No one has seen him ever since he left the plaza… if you don’t mind me asking sir, why are we searching for him?”

“What do you mean why are we searching for him? I’ve already told you, he saved my life.”

“Sir, you say that, but how is that possible?” The knight asked his superior, uncertain about the claims.

“I don’t know how it was possible Horan. All I know is that I saw something happen, and then closed my eyes awaiting death. Before I knew it, the Kalligor was dead.”

“But you also said he was merely a boy, and from what you can tell, not even 10 years of age yet. You want the knights to believe that some unknown boy killed the kalligor in an instant, while you a master Raezil spellknight, me a Rujal spellknight, and forty of the kingdom’s best trained knights could barely contain it?” The knight asked, his argument logical.

“Tell to me Horan, what exactly did you see?” The old knight questioned.

“Have you not read the report sir?”

“DAM THE REPORT HORAN! I want to hear what you saw!” He snapped back.

“Sir, I saw you grab the child and use your body as a shield. There was a burst of light around you as if you were about to start shining. Then suddenly, the kalligor that was upon you burst into pieces. The boy then got something from the stalls, and walked away.” Horan replied recalling what he saw.

“Exactly. A burst of light, the kalligor in pieces, and the boy walking away. That is exactly why we are searching for him Horan, besides the fact that he saved my life.” The old knight replied, calm and collected.

“Are you sure it was not you who killed it unconsciously in your last struggle to protect the child, Sir?”

“Don’t be ridiculous Horan. Even as a Raezil, I could not accomplish what you all just saw. There are only four Raezils I know of who can kill a man by causing pressure to build up inside the body ending in a similar display of what we saw, but those usually leave body parts intact except for the point of exit, and requires a lengthy incantation. That magic earlier looked like it had ripped the kalligor apart bit by bit and threw it around the plaza, in an instant.”

“It is hard to believe, a child… capable of that?” Horan was still uncertain.

“I don’t need you to believe me Horan you saw it yourself. What I need is to find that child. Tell me, how many Malgins and Malizurs can you think of that can accomplish such a feat?”

“14 known Malgins and 3 Malizurs that we are aware of, Sir.” A swift and precise answer.

“And were any of them here in this plaza today?” The old knight asked, irritated.

“No sir.” The younger knight replied. “… Are you proposing, the child awoke to his powers in that instant?”

“That is not what I am ‘proposing’ at all Horan. How many people have awoken to their capacities and simply walked away afterwards?”

“Never before…”

“Then you should understand why this is such an important matter.”

“Yes Sir.” The adjutant replied, finally understanding why the captain wanted to find the boy.

“Have the men expand their search outward from the plaza, recruit the district guards too. Search the 3rd ward then expand to the 2nd and 4th if we have to.”

“Yes sir. What about the 11th ward? It could be possible that he is a part of the nobility.”

“No, the child’s clothes was that of the common populace, and if he had been one of the lord’s children, I would have known.” The old knight refuted the possibility. “Where is the other kalligor?” He suddenly changed the topic.

“In its cage. It will be taken to the Mystiks guild to have the cage reinforced, along with the magic binding the beast.”

“I see.” The old knight replied, relieved. “That is all. Let me know if the boy is found, or if anything comes up.”

“Understood.” The younger knight replied before turning around and heading towards the exit.

“Horan.” The knight stopped in his track.

“The child’s hair was glowing… I saw it only briefly, but the glow was bright enough to force me to close my eyes. No matter what the speculation, if I am not mistaken, that child saved me and possibly everyone here today. We must find him.”

“We will, Sir.”