The Road to the Garden of Beginnings

The Road to the Garden of Beginnings

The Road to the Garden of Beginnings

“Lord Ferdinand, where are you going?!” Cornelius cried.

This was neither the time nor place to explain the details, so Ferdinand took to the sky without so much as a response. Heisshitze and my knights were quick to follow, which didn’t seem very wise; we were about to unleash a burst of powerful magic.

“Take cover under the ivory buildings!” Ferdinand shouted. “Or if you insist on coming with us, fly higher than we do! You will die if you linger between us and our target!”

He then accelerated, continuing his ascent. I wanted to turn around to see if anyone was still following us, but that wasn’t an option right now; I squeezed the reins tight so that I wouldn’t fall.

First bell rang as we continued toward the sky—a single chime that reached the entire Royal Academy. The sun had yet to rise.

“Rozemyne—use Leidenschaft’s spear,” Ferdinand instructed once we were high enough to look over the entire Academy. He made his schtappe into a one-handed sword, then began filling it with mana.

“The spear?” I repeated.

“Yes. Pour a tremendous amount of mana into it. Then, at my signal, close your eyes and throw it downward. No matter how poor your throwing arm might be, there is no way for you to miss; the magic circle covers the entire Royal Academy.”

I wouldn’t have the slightest bit of trouble pouring mana into Leidenschaft’s spear. But when it came to actually throwing the thing...

He’s right. My aim leaves a lot to be desired. But was that little jab really necessary?! Just because a statement is true doesn’t make it any less hurtful.

“Lord Ferdinand, what are you doing?!”

“Please stop him, Lady Rozemyne!”

Cries rang out while Ferdinand prepared to swing his mana-filled sword; some of our tagalongs must have caught up to us. They were mostly my knights, but I noticed a few blue capes as well. Ferdinand gazed down at them and muttered, “If only they listened as well as Eckhart.”

In truth, I thought that was a pretty unreasonable expectation. Eckhart was so devoted to Ferdinand that he obeyed the man’s every word; I doubted anyone else would measure up to him.

“I warned you of the danger,” Ferdinand called. “Hurry up and get above us. Or were you hoping to die?”

The knights blanched and did as they were told. Ferdinand waited until they were a safe distance away from us, grumbling all the while that this was a waste of the precious little time we had. His repeated displays of anger revealed just how anxious he must have been feeling.

“Don’t do anything until they’re all above us,” I said. “I will stop you if you endanger my guard knights.”

“I would never do something so cruel.”

Heisshitze asked what we were doing as he passed us, but again, Ferdinand refused to answer. He shook his sword and said, “I see no reason to humor your questions. Get as far away from us as you can. Now, Rozemyne—begin.”

“Right!” I exclaimed.

I closed my eyes, formed my schtappe, and cast lanze. Though I couldn’t see the spear, I felt its shaft appear in my hand. I channeled my mana into it, and it wasn’t long before the weapon started to crackle.

“That will do,” Ferdinand said. “Drop it.”

“Lord Ferdinand?!”

“Lady Rozemyne! Stop!”

Two panicked cries came from above, but our hands were tied. If we didn’t activate the magic circle and go to the Garden of Beginnings, Gervasio would obtain his own Book of Mestionora. I couldn’t let someone who would massacre Ahrensbach’s nobles for feystones and kidnap young women become the next king of Yurgenschmidt.

I need to stop him!

At last, I released the spear I was holding. It fell through the air like a blue shooting star piercing the otherwise gloomy night sky. Then my stomach dropped as Ferdinand took us into a steep dive, almost like he was chasing the light. He used the momentum to swing his sword down.