Chapter 1: Ebrius

 Chapter 1: Ebrius

The crooked ash serpent rising from the tavern's chimney, along with the occasional explosions and sparks flying out of its windows, were just a few of the many signs that Ebrius, the town's one and only reject wizard, was drunk and had once again changed his profession from the towns mediocre party entertainer to a mad and quite intoxicated pyromaniac.

A quick glance inside the cozy-looking tavern would reveal Ebrius wearing his raggedy grey wizarding robe back-to-front, dangerously playing around with his staff, creating flames that grew increasingly uncontrollable. As the patrons in the tavern covered their drinks and eyes, almost cowering together under the newly installed non-flammable tables, Ebrius continued to perform, lost in his own world of wizardry and wonder.

Unexpectedly, Ebrius's staff started to whine and puff smoke, rattling and tensing up, crackling and splintering. But instead of ending his performance as usual, Ebrius pushed forward and improvised, creating an even more spectacular and dangerous display of magic. The crowd could hardly believe their eyes, such wonders, yet they their terror soon surfaced again as he conjured up huge balls of fire that bounced around the small room, narrowly missing heads and tables of everyone inside the tavern, including Ebrius himself.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity of fiery chaos, it couldn't handle the constant strain and overwhelming exhaustion, quickly combusting and falling into a small, neat pile of waste at his feet. The pile, mostly consisting of charcoal, ash and an absolutely terrible smell was quickly swept up into Ebrius's hands and expelled into his warped hat as an attempt to play off the mishap as one of his many tricks.

The crowd cheered and applauded, not realizing just how lucky they were to have escaped without injury, or perhaps relieved that it didn't end up the same as Kemeron. Regardless as always, Ebrius, unaware of the fact, smiled with his nose pushing his mouth down, further highlighting the horrific sight that it already was. Perhaps that was why he was expelled from wizarding school.

The ash serpent continued to creep out the chimney, confirming the worst of everyone in the town of Novara’s suspicions - Ebrius was up to his "Advanced" party tricks. Faint murmurs of "Ebrius did it again", spread like wildfire among the crowds of townsfolk, with many referring to the tragic Kemeron fire, all pondering to themselves if he had any involvement, given his infamous reputation as a mad pyromaniac.

There was a saying in Telemberg, "Butter spreads thick but rumors spread quick "and this is in a classic example of the latter. Bizarre rumors of Ebrius standing far out at Kemeron whispering strange incantations had filled nearly every ear around, even the birds were singing of it. Despite the obvious geographical challenges of being present in two places at once they persisted. Only a few dared to ask "How could he be there? Almost half the realm stands between us and Kemeron", as expected their queries were met with little more than shrugs.

Regardless of the cause for concern, Ebrius appeared unfazed, his slightly beer-clogged ears blocking out the murmurs and whispers around him. Inside the tavern, the crowd cheered, oblivious to the danger posed by Ebrius' pyrotechnic display.

As the cheering reached its peak, Ebrius slowly backed away, his heart racing as he realized the foolishness of playing with fire in a room dripping with liquor, both figuratively and literally. His gaze darted around the room, from person to person and back again, until he spotted a tiny ember from his earlier display, drifting perilously close to his now quite flammable nose.

Ebrius was thrown into a state of panic as he attempted to evade the ember, but his focus was solely on the glowing speck. In his haste, he scrambled, stumbled backwards over a chair and crashed to the ground, provoking raucous laughter from the patrons that drowned out their previous applause.

 As Ebrius lay on the floor, he felt the ever-increasing heat of the ember inching dangerously close to his nose, and his mind raced as he struggled to come up with a plan, any plan that would extinguish the ember before it ignited his terribly long nose hairs along with everything inside the tavern.

With a sudden burst of inspiration, he twisted his face into a contorted shape resembling that of a shrimp's tail and quickly seized a nearby tankard that was still frothing at the top. He smashed it against the floor, causing a spatter of ale to fly in all directions and miraculously extinguishing the ember.

 At least that's how he recalled it. However, the others only saw Ebrius's face twisted in a constipated expression as he stumbled over his own shame. They continued roaring with laughter at his expense as he struggled to regain his footing, wiping off the ale from his robes and draining any lingering liquid from his hood. He knew that he had just narrowly escaped disaster, and he frantically checked each of his nose hairs and breathed a sigh of relief.

Ebrius had reached his limit with the day's performance and was eager to depart the tavern, hoping to preserve the scant amount of dignity he had left. As he made his hasty exit, nightfall descended upon the sky, with the dark inky hues of evening advancing like a cavalry charge. According to legend, in the days of yore when time was still young, a rivalry had sparked between Temen, the god of all things black, and Pictor, the god responsible for painting the heavens.

Temen would sneak into Pictor's chambers each day and defile his hard work with a bottle of perpetually full ink. Despite this mischief, Pictor had no difficulty repainting the heavens each day and often let the whole realm know exactly how he felt through the large canvas shoved into their faces each morning.

While Ebrius was critical of the half-hearted efforts of most gods, he always found solace in the little pockets of brightness that Temen appeared to overlook at first glance, piercing its way through the dark.

Ebrius pulled his hood closely towards his face, covering his mouth and nose with the fumes of ale.

"Did you catch that performance?" one voice inquired, followed by another saying, "I heard he was responsible for Kemeron's accident." A third person added, “Even that was a better sight.”, Ebrius rolled his eyes and whispered under his breath “They always blame me for everything.”

He reached into the stitched-up pocket of his robe and pulled out a small and mostly furry object. It was a dead cat, but not just any dead cat.

This one had come about as a result of a spell gone awry at Altimere University. For almost a century, it had become an annual tradition for the university students to quietly borrow one of the many felines belonging to the groundskeeper, Silas Green, temporarily bring an end to its life, and then resurrect it once more. It had been a miracle that Silas never caught on, but after Ebrius cast the resurrection spell it was far too difficult to keep it a secret.

The feline in question was “Specimen A” or whatever it was given as a label that year and seemed to be experiencing some, let's say unexpected side effects: the cat was now a terribly snarky creature that just seemed to never want to shut up, it was sarcastic, restless and perpetually hungry.

For nearly a week, the students and lecturers made clandestine attempts to reverse the dreadful consequences of Ebrius's spell. Despite sinking a significant amount of magic into the cat, it surprisingly remained unchanged, much to their shock and dismay. They even tried to kill it again, but to no avail, they couldn't even accomplish that. As Silas started asking about his beloved feline companion, they had no other option but to release Specimen and hope that Silas wouldn't notice.

After releasing Specimen into the university’s corridors, the group watched anxiously as the cat quickly disappeared behind a wall constructed out of recipes for the Dreamberry delight, a dessert made from enchanted berries said to give the most vivid and delightful dreams. If only they could disappear into one of those dreams now.

Days had passed since they released Specimen into the University, and the group had been careful to avoid Silas to the best of their ability. They thought to themselves that maybe the cat ran off. However, one night, while Silas was working in his dirty observatory, he finally ran into Specimen.

While whipping the lens of the 325th telescope installed in the room, Silas lifted his arm and tilted his head back to take a swig of Hops Brew. However, his attention was quickly drawn to something luring in the corner of his eye, causing his heart to skip a beat. Perched atop the telescope was Specimen.

Silas called out to the feline, “There you are you putrid rat, get down here or I’ll whack you with a broom.” Silas squinted his eyes trying to get a better look at Specimen.

Specimen lazily opened his eyes to stare at Silas, his burning blue eyes piercing into his soul with an almost hypnotic gaze, he could feel himself grow weaker and more vulnerable by the second. Silas seemed to freeze; his legs sunk into a sticky stain on the floor. The room seemed to spin around him, and he struggled to remain in an upright position. He muttered “By the gods, what are they putting in hops brew nowadays”

Suddenly, the cat lunged at Silas, its claws extended ready to strike. He lost his balance and fell backwards over his own feet, narrowly avoiding an attack. He could feel the cat’s cold fur brush against his leg and its rancid scent filled his nostrils.

Confused and desperate from the situation, Silas drew out his little wand from his sock and quickly whispered a spell, but nothing happened. The cat remained in a state of frenzy, its eyes locked on Silas. In a final act of desperation, Silas grabbed a nearby book and hurled it at the cat. The book connected with a horrific thud followed a sickening rendition of nearly every foul word in Telemberg’s history. Silas, shocked by the situation collapsed to the ground and gasped for air.

“Why the bloody hell can you talk, you sick tabby” squealed Silas

Specimen continued to stare at Silas, its eyes still burned with a fierce intensity. Silas could see that the cat was no longer in a frenzy, but instead stared at him with a hungry, predatory gaze.

Silas’s confusion turned to fear as he realized that he was facing a dangerous and unpredictable creature, his pet had died, what was left was Specimen. He quickly scrambled to his feet, backing away while keeping an eye on the cat.

It was then when Specimen spoke, its voice creepily high pitch, somehow finding a way to stay terrifying and ominous. “You dare throw a book at me human? You truly don’t know just how out of your depth you are.” it said threateningly

Silas was shocked, he’d heard stories of animals having a voice, but he’d never seen one before. “I didn’t mean to...I didn’t know...” he stammered

Specimen cut him off with a sharp hiss. “Your ignorance is no excuse; you humans are always meddling in things you don’t understand and that’s exactly the reason why I’m still stuck in this body.” it said circling Silas, its eyes still locked on him.

“I don’t know what you mean...I’m sorry, please let me leave, I won’t ever hold a book again if that’s what you want?” Silas pleaded.

“Of course, that’s what you take away from this...how stupid. Anyways, I can’t have you babbling to the others about what I’ve done.” Specimen replied coldly.

Specimen dug his claws into Silas, “I’ve got a message for you to forward to the land after” snarled the cat, “Don’t get too impatient waiting for me, you’ve tried before but you won’t be getting my soul again, you old sack of bones.”

The message had been received and no one in the university ever heard from Silas again. His sudden disappearance left everyone puzzled, and they wondered if he had gone on a long vacation. Altimere University was the most prestigious wizarding school in the realm, and nobody had ever voluntarily resigned, not even the overworked groundskeepers such as Silas.

If only they knew the true nature of Specimen, they wouldn't have placed him into the hands of the worst magic user in the realm, Ebrius, the one who was ultimately responsible for this tragic event. Luckily Ebrius hadn’t faced the same fate as Silas. Instead, Specimen rather relished the opportunity to taunt Ebrius, referring to him as “a being of lower life” and following him along his long quest to fit in, always stashed deep in his cloak.

The sky was now engulfed by darkness, and the town of Novara transformed into an entirely different place. Wonky shadows cast from the bizarre buildings stretched across the narrow cobblestone and footsteps echoed eerily in the silence. Enchanted lanterns glowed softly, illuminating the walls around Ebrius, it revealed the history etched into the stone and a path for Ebrius and Specimen to follow.

"Hey, got any snacks to go with this mead?" slurred Specimen A, his muffled voice indicating his mouth was full.

Ebrius let out a sigh and delved deeper into his pockets, presenting, after much effort, a half-eaten sandwich. “Here,” he said, placing the cat into his hood and holding out the piece of bread. “But only if you promise to keep quiet for once, my head is throbbing.”

Specimen snatched the sandwich out of Ebrius’s hand knowing those were just empty words to him, what’s he going to do to undying cat? Place it in a box full of poison?

“So, where are we heading? More drunken pyromania?” Specimen asked curiously, his eyes gleaming with excitement for mischief and his whiskers covered with food.

Ebrius shook his head wearily. “Not tonight, Specimen, I think the town’s had their full of me today.” His eyes darted off into the distance, almost clawing out, as if they just wanted to run off and leave this conversation.

Specimen rolled his eyes “What's new? You’re getting blamed for something, it’s not like they haven't been doing that for years.”

Ebrius stayed quiet, he couldn't draw the words from his mouth, and they continued down the alley in silence.

The passageway moved like a river, splitting off and gliding away into many different choices, but the path was the same as always and Ebrius followed it without fault. As they turned a corner their silence was interrupted by a harsh grating noise flowing from the alley. Up ahead near the stables was the culprit, about a dozen knights baring a burnt banner seemed to be laying against the large wooden archway, almost completely collapsed from exhaustion. Their armor clashed against the cold stone.

Although burnt, Ebrius recognized the banner instantly- it bore a great crimson phoenix soaring across a violet tainted sky, the symbol of Kemeron. Their armor bore stories of horrific events and these ash kissed plates told everyone of their great efforts trying to save their home. Their eyes seemed empty, the only thing left was a small fire burning inside, the scar of a sight they’d never forget, the horrors they witnessed.

As Ebrius approached the knights, a sudden wave of unease washed over him like a cold wave. It was as if the air around him grew thick and stale, his robes suddenly seemed tight and uncomfortable against his skin. His heart raced and his eyes darted forward, trying not to meet the gaze of the knights that silently judged him. Stronger than even the most formidable enchantment emotions can be a terrible pain that transcends the realm of magic.

His footsteps gradually carried him further away from the concrete maze. The familiar sights and sounds of the town began to fade into the distance, replaced by the tranquility of the surrounding countryside. The moon cast a soft glow, illuminating his path as he walked.

He once again grew lost in his thoughts, eventually he stumbled upon an old weather-beaten signpost. Its wooden frame creaked with each gust of wind, while it pointed in many various directions, guiding the way to nearby villages and landmarks. Ebrius followed the path indicated by the signpost, venturing into the dense forest that lay ahead.

As he delved deeper into the woods, the atmosphere grew cold, and a sense of unease settled within him. Shadows danced around the trees, and whispers of their branches seemed to emanate from the darkness. It was at that moment that Ebrius caught sight of a figure lurking in the shadows-a tall, enigmatic body with pale skin and piercing eyes.