RISE OF THE SWARM

The decision, once spoken, seemed to suck all the air from the carriage. The silence that followed was heavier than before, thick with the unspoken implications of his choice. Liam's single word, "Yes," had irrevocably severed him from his past. He was no longer Liam, the village boy who fixed roofs and tended gardens. He was… something else. A weapon, a key, a problem. The labels shifted in his mind, each one ill-fitting and cold.

Merlin gave a slow, approving nod, his expression a complex mix of pride and pity. "A brave choice, lad. The first of many you will have to make."

Princess Evelyn said nothing, she leaned back onto the carriage closing her eyes assuming a meditative posture. It seems she didn't want to be part of the conversation anymore.

Liam decided to stare out of the wagon, the scenery was beginning to change. The wild untamed forests and rugged hills began to change, gradually beginning to soften into long golden stretches of cultivated fields and groves of trees.

His eyes widened as he saw stone golems, twice the height of a man, patrolling the edges of a vast wheat field. Their movements were slow, deliberate, and ground-shaking even from a distance. With hands of rough-hewn rock, they would occasionally stoop, plucking a large insectile pest or a burrowing creature from the soil and crushing it to dust. They were guardians of the harvest, magical constructs of immense strength and simple purpose. Fascinating, he thought. As the carriage rolled past, one of the golems stopped its patrol. It didn't have eyes, but the front of its head was a single, smooth stone that seemed to focus. It turned its entire body toward the carriage, tracking their progress as they passed by. Liam felt a strange chill, wondering if it sensed the anomaly within their transport.

A symbol of a phoenix clutching a sword and scroll had been terrible carved onto its surface, the symbol of the Aurelion empire. They were entering the heartlands of the empire.

The ache in his ribs was a dull, persistent throb, a grounding anchor in the sea of his swirling thoughts. Unmade. Erased. Merlin's words echoed, each time sending a fresh shiver down his spine. He looked at his own hands. They were not the hands of someone who could unravel the pattern of existenc.

"Where are we heading?" Liam asked wanting to keep his mind of his thoughts.

Merlin, who had been watching him thoughtfully, smiled. "Hmm, well we are heading towards the Imperial capital. After all, the Highnesses need to see their daughter, who had run away." He cast a glance at Evelyn, whose brow furrowed minutely at the mention, though her eyes remained closed. It seemed she was about to be in gravew trouble. "After that," Merlin continued, "we will head towards the Imperial Academy, where you will learn how to control that power."

The Imperial Capital. The Academy. Names from stories, now his destination.

"But aren't you Merlin?" Liam asked, puzzled. "Can't you just… teleport us there?"

Merlin let out a warm, genuine laugh. "Well, I definitely could! But I have no idea how that would work with your power. Teleportation is a fantastically complex and precise weaving of spatial mana. If your null field were to manifest in the middle of the process a sneeze, a moment of panic, our remains could be sent spiraling across the edges of the world, or simply unraveled in to atoms. So, we are going to use a warp gate. They are built into stable, permanent structures and are generally much more stable. There is one in the city we are heading towards."

"Liam nodded slowly, a new layer of fear being added to him. His power wasn't just dangerous, it made him incompatible with the world itslef. He was a walking disruption to the laws that governed the world.

"Oh, and this leads us to our first lesson Liam." Merlin said, his tone shifting to resemble that one of an instructor. "You need to stop thinking so negatively about you power if you're afraid of it then you probably wont to be able to use it at its full potential."

"How did you kn-" Liam asked Suprised.

"Your face is an open book, young man. And your emotional state is currently broadcasting on a frequency most trained mages could sense a league away. Fear, confusion, self-loathing. It's a potent cocktail. Your power is a part of you. It is as intrinsic as the color of your eyes. To treat it as an alien invader is to create a schism within your own soul. You will forever be at war with yourself, and in that war, control is the first casualty." Merlin said

"How can i not see it as negative though, you said yourself, it literary unmakes things." Liam rebutted.

"A surgoen's scapel cuts flesh, a farmer's scythe cuts down wheat, yet are they monstrous, Liam? They are merely tools. Morality lies in the wielder not it in the tool. Your power is the ultimate tool, it can just as easily unmake a magical plague just as it can unmake a man, the choice is yours."

Soon the path began to change, from on of dirt to one of cobblestone, The path began to grow much larger and wider as it melded together with other roads. Other carriages began to appear, some carrying large loads, while other barely anything all heading towards the same place. Some glanced towards Liams wagon as they couldn't understand how it was moving with being pulled but they quickly put the thoughts aside.

In the distance the walls of a large city began to show themselves. The black walls rose high into the sky, black and red banners falling over it. A symbol of an axe embossed on the surface.

"Fortress Blackrock." Merlin said with a smile.

Soon the gates were in view. Large black and metal, closed shut. Multiple tents had been set up on the outside awaiting for the gates to be opened. More and more carriages poured in from around the empire's outskirts setting camp here waiting to be allowed into the heartlands.

"They usually open it once every week, but we don't really have the time for that." Merlin continued.

The self driving carriage didnt even slow down, it just kept going strait for the huge gates, ignoring the messy little market outside and the looks from merchants and travlers. First they were curious, then annoyed, then shocked. Murmurs spread quick thru the crowd. Who did these people in the fancy coach think they were, just rolling up to the sealed gates of Blackrock?

A guard capten stepped forward, his armor dull under the grey sky, hand raised. "Halt! Gates are closed by order of the Lord Commander. Turn back and wait with the rest."

For the first time since the journey started, Princess Evelyn opened her eyes. She didnt sit up or look at him. She just lifted her hand, and a glowing gold seal in the shape of a phoenix and sword apeared in the air. It flashed bright, and the captains face went from stern to pale. He dropped to one knee at once, the soldiers with him doing the same.

"The gate," Evelyn said. Her voice flat, no request in it, just command.

"At once, your highness!" the captain stammered, yelling to his men. The massive black iron gates groaned as they opened, the sound rattling the cobblestones. The crowd stared, some bowing awkwardly, others just gaping.

The carriage rolled in without pause. Inside, Fortress Blackrock was exactly that—a fortress. More barracks than city, built into the mountain. Cold, harsh, and strong. Soldiers drilled in neat lines, blacksmiths hammers rang, and the air stank of coal and smoke. No taverns, no bright banners. Just stone and steel.

The carriage kept moving until it reached the central keep, a brutal building carved from the mountain itself. Waiting in the courtyard stood a tall man in black armor edged with silver, face lined with scars, eyes like stone. The Lord Commander.

Merlin hopped out first, waving cheerfully. "Baron! Still keeping everyone locked out I see."

Baron didnt smile. His eyes were locked on the carriage as Evelyn stepped down, bored and cold. He bowed stiffly. "Your Highness. Your father, the Emperor, has been most worried."

"He always is," she replied, not looking at him.

Then Baron's gaze moved to Liam, who climbed out slow, holding his ribs. A commoner, wounded, stepping from the Princess's own coach. The confusion on the commanders face was clear.

"And this is?" he asked, his voice low.

"A guest," Merlin said quickly. "A student for the Academy. We need the warp gate at once."

"The gate isnt scheduled for " Baron began.

"The schedule," Evelyn cut in, her voice like ice cracking, "is whatever I say. Or do you want me to tell my father you blocked me from returning to the capital?"

Baron stiffened. He was not used to such words, but he wasnt stupid either. He gave a sharp nod. "No need, Your Highness. The gate will be prepared. But first," he looked at Merlin, a flicker of old knowing in his eyes. "My duty says I must offer you refreshment and a report. The mountains have been restless. There are things stirring in the deep passes. Old things. You should hear this Merlin."

Merlin's smile faded serious. He glanced at Liam and Evelyn, then nodded. "Very well, Baron. A quick report. Lead the way."

Baron turned and strode into the keep. Merlin followed, Evelyn sighing in irritation before trailing after. Liam went last, feeling small among all the stone and steel, walking right into a story that sounded less like a tale by the fire, and more like the fire itself.