Ch1 The Mage of Zebrica

Book 6/Chapter 1
The Mage of Zebrica

Year 04, Month 01, Day 05

Zeil, with the hood on his cloak down and a peaceful smile on his face, followed the long empty road as it curved over tall grassy hills that seemed to stretch for miles. As he continued, he couldn’t help but feel at peace as the partly cloudy sky made the late autumn day feel calm as Zeil reached the top of the hill before looking far into the distance. Barely at the end of the horizon, Zeil could see the road he was traveling on enter an amazingly tall thick forest as he took the time to enjoy the vastness of the small hilly grasslands. As he looked around something caught his eye as Zeil looked down right next to the road to see a very small statue sitting on the side of the road. The statue was less than a foot tall but the small totem seemed to resemble a very fat but simple looking griffin as Zeil smiled at the small roadside guardian. Knowing that these statues were made to bring weary travelers luck, Zeil could only smile at the small trinket before looking back onto his path and continuing down the road with a peaceful feeling in his step.

However, after taking only three paces from where he was standing, his peaceful feeling was quickly removed just as the sun was covered by a thick cloud that cascaded a dark shadow over the changeling traveler. When the sunlight was blocked, a dark and terrifying feeling came upon Zeil, as he immediately felt an aura like nothing he had ever experienced before appear directly behind him as if from thin air. The peaceful smile Zeil held was immediately replaced with a trembling feeling of worry as Zeil felt too terrified by the aura to turn and gaze upon the creature that held it. He didn’t know what exactly appeared behind him, but judging by the aura he felt, Zeil could only guess that it was a large apelike creature that easily towered above fifteen feet with massive arms and claws as he felt the creature’s gaze looking down upon him like a predator watching his next meal. Then the aura seemed to reach down towards the smaller changeling as Zeil’s fear took over causing him to jump as far forward as he could before turning around in midair, landing, and readying himself for a fight that he knew he probably couldn’t win.

However as soon as Zeil saw what he was dealing with, the aura, the sense of danger and everything terrifying about it, seemed to vanish as Zeil found himself staring not at a massive creature of evil, but at a lone zebra wearing a pitch black cloak as he stood silent with his eyes closed and his hood casting an even darker shadow over his face. Confused, Zeil stared at the elderly zebra as he tried to understand where that feeling came from. With a strange feeling of embarrassment, Zeil sighed to himself as he mumbled, “Was… was that just my imagination running wild? It had to be. Something that… evil, I would have easily sensed approaching. Then again, why didn’t I sense this guy before?”
With that said, Zeil ceased his offensive stance as he stood strait and started to talk to the stranger, however as he opened his mouth to speak, the stranger opened his eyes as the gaze of the zebra brought back the sudden aura of terror and evil for a split second as that alone caused Zeil to silence himself before taking an extra step back in worry.

After the moment passed, Zeil continued to look at the zebra in worry as the older stallion looked at him for a brief moment, then paned his eyes around in the far distance until finally ending on the small statue that sat on the side of the road. With no identifiable expression visible from under the shadow of the zebra’s cloak, Zeil could only stare in curiosity before the zebra looked back at him and spoke with an emotionless tone, “And so… the cycle continues.”
Zeil gave the stranger a confused look, “Wh-what?”
The stranger replied, not with an explanation, but with a riddle, “You travel in hopes of reaching your destination, and claiming your prize. However, while traversing such a path you are met with a divergence. One way, the faster, will lead strait to your goal, but will not allow you to claim your prize. The other, will take your much further in distance and longer in time, however upon reaching your destination you are guaranteed both your goal and prize… Which path would you take in knowing this result? The shorter, or the longer?”

Zeil felt at a complete loss, this stranger seemed to appear out of nowhere bearing an aura that tripled the fear factor of even the dark alicorn himself, but rather then addressing it, he instead gives only a riddle and expects a casual answer. Zeil had no idea what to make of this truly strange yet terrifying creature, but hoping that the answer would bear some sort of information about who he was, Zeil decided to answer, “The longer path.”
The zebra replied with no emotion, “Your reason?”
Zeil continued, “If my path leads to both a goal and a prize, then I would hope to attain both. Otherwise it’s no different from traveling to a market, and back without purchasing anything at all. It’s just a waste of time.”
Though the shadow of his cloak covered his face almost entirely, Zeil could tell that the stranger was smiling as he replied, “If that is your answer, then I only hope you will remember it once the time comes.”

With that said, the strange zebra started trotting towards Zeil, before passing him on the path and continuing down the road with nothing more to say. As the stranger pressed on, Zeil was at a complete loss of words. By appearance, the strange zebra seemed to be nothing more than an elderly zebra with a jet black cloak and dull green eyes, however the aura Zeil sensed was that of a zebra, but also of something else. He didn’t know what beast or demon possessed this elder stallion, but whatever it was, Zeil didn’t want to be near it, let along anger it. So since the stallion was obviously traveling in the same direction that Zeil was, Zeil decided to stop where he was and wait about half an hour before continuing in hopes that the stallion and he won’t have to be in each other’s presence for the remainder of their travels. So with this in mind, Zeil decided to sit and take a break as he watched and waited for the strange zebra to leave his sight.

Later when he felt that enough time had passed, Zeil continued to travel down the road till the road entered a large thick forest with tall trees that that towered hundreds of feet in the air, and held thick canopies above almost sharing the sky with the partially cloudy weather. Knowing this was the road he needed to take, Zeil pressed on as the thick canopies above slowly made the path darker and darker until it seemed as if he were traveling at night. With torches along the road lighting his way, Zeil continued for a few minutes before the road he traveled on parted into two paths. At the center of the fork, there were directional signs pointing in both directions with the words Pergola Village on one. The other sign however read something else but was covered by a removable placard that read Bridge Out, meaning that the passage was obviously unpassable. Seeing this made Zeil think as he mumbled to himself, “Both passages lead west… and the shorter one out of the forest is blocked… is this… the riddle that the old zebra mentioned?”

Thinking that it had to be a coincidence, Zeil turned to the longer passage that lead towards the village as he smiled, “Nah… maybe he was some old kook who knew the bridge was out and was trying to act wise or something.” He thought to himself, “But still… that aura he had before seeing his face… what was that… and… why was it so… terrifying.”
Feeling he was thinking too far into it, Zeil decided to disregard the question as he continued on his path without dwelling any further into the subject.

Hours later as dusk started to settle in, Zeil’s path led deeper into the forest as he noticed that the tall and thick trees that resembled skyscrapers started to become just that, as Zeil could see lit burrows dug into the tall natural structures as Zeil looked at the closest building and smiled at his luck, “A tavern… I hope they have a room I can stay in.”
As soon as the traveling changeling opened the door, his ears where filled with the joyous song of wood cutting griffin patrons as the tired lumberjacks sang and drank to end of a good day’s work. As Zeil made his way through the rowdy room, he was slightly surprised that the town seemed to be only griffin as he made his way to the bar and spoke with the griffin barkeep, “Excuse me sir, do you have any vacancies?”
The bartender nodded as he smiled, “Sure… Welcome to the Timberwolf Tavern, finest establishment in the Wooden Pergola Forest. We have one available room, ten bits for the night, twenty if you intend on staying the whole day tomorrow.”
Zeil reached into his saddlebag as he pulled out a pouch of bits and counted out the money, “One night please… I won’t be here long so that’s all I need.”

Happy he had business, the bartender smiled as he pulled out a large book and replied, “Sound like we have a deal, now I’ll need you to place your name in the registry please. Just a precaution in case you are the type to destroy the room before leaving.”
Zeil nodded as he placed the money on the bar, “I don’t do that, but I understand. Can’t be too careful now-a-days.”
As Zeil wrote his name and information in the book, the bartender pointed to the corner of the room, “Ain’t that the truth. By the way, your friend arrived here before you did and got a table for you both. He’s waiting over there for you.”
Zeil was confused as he looked in the direction that the griffin was pointing, “Friend? What are you ta-”

As Zeil looked across the room, He could see that in the very far corner, at the furthest table, sat the elderly zebra as the cloaked stallion watched Zeil with an emotionless expression on his face. With the Zebra’s hood on his cloak down, Zeil could see his face much clearer then on the road. The old zebra seemed simple as far as zebra go, his grey stripes were faded with age almost blending in with the white of his coat making him look closer to a light grey pony then an older zebra. His mane was cut short and sloppy, as if it was self-cut with a dagger or sword, and on him, were an assortment of accessories that seemed Zebrican in origin, totems, beads, fangs, and claws from vicious predators even a small veil with an unknown red liquid hung from a cord around his neck. Although his appearance was one to catch attention as the lone zebra in the room of griffin, it was his aura that caught Zeil’s full attention. Like on the trail, Zeil could feel two presence in the room from that very table, one of a zebra simple and aged, and another of a vicious monster that would be best avoided, but currently content.

At first, Zeil was going to follow his instinct and avoid the stranger as much as he could, however as he looked around the large tavern, he saw that there were no other table’s with open seats, and then to make the matter worse the bartender spoke, “He already ordered and paid for your beverages. So when they are ready we will get them out for you. Been a while since anyone ordered hot tea, but then again we don’t get zebra in here often.”
Zeil looked back at the bartender and decided to accept the hospitality as he spoke, “Thanks.”
Still unsure, Zeil trotted to the table as the emotionless zebra smiled slightly as Zeil approached the table. As Zeil looked at the zebra, the elder spoke first, “Good to see you again. I take it you saw the divergence in your path, or fork if you want to speak plainly.”
Zeil nodded, “I did.”
The stranger smiled, “And your decision?”

Zeil rolled his eyes in hopelessness before sitting at the table and replying, “I took the longer path… just like I said. Not like I’m going to cross a bridge when it’s out.”
The elderly zebra smiled, “Then it should be good practice.”
At that moment a griffin waitress approached and placed a hot tea kettle and two cups on the table then left as Zeil replied, “Practice?”
The stranger poured himself and Zeil a cup of hot tea as he replied, “Of course… you didn’t think that was the divergence I spoke of did you? Though you chose a longer path as you said, you can’t take a path when the bridge is out, so… you made a choice in a point where… you simply had no choice. Hardly a decision at all when you think about it.”
Zeil replied with distrust in his tone, “So… there is another time when I will make that choice?”
The stranger pushed Zeil’s cup of tea closer to him as he replied, “There will be, but that isn’t anytime soon. And that decision will be much more challenging than just deciding where to go. You will have to make a choice that… you won’t like.”

Zeil was suspicious, “What kind of choice?”
As Zeil picked up the tea to take a sip, the clever zebra smiled sinisterly, “That my changeling friend, is one that you will have to discover on your own.”
As soon as that was said, Zeil paused as he felt a cold chill run up his spine as he sensed the dark and eerie presence surround the elderly zebra get stronger. He knew he had never mentioned or hinted that he was a changeling as Zeil could only give the strange zebra a distrusting stare, “Who are you?...”
The Zebra didn’t reply, instead he only gave Zeil a sinister and untrustworthy smile.

Before Zeil could reply to the smile, the Tavern door was thrown open with enough force to slam against the wall, leaving the entire room Zeil included, to look to the door in surprise as a wounded griffin entered. Though the griffin’s expression was enough to say it out loud, the aura that Zeil could sense from the unexpected guest was that of great fear, the same fear of impending death. Bleeding and terrified, the wounded griffin franticly closed the tavern door and then leaned against it with his right shoulder, before covering his wound on his left shoulder. Confused one of the tavern patrons spoke, “Hatchet? What’s wrong? Why do you look so frantic?”
The frantic griffin looked at his fellow lumberjack as he spoke, “A-Ace… She’s… she’s dead… it… it killed her! I tried to stop it but… but…”
Another Griffin stood up, “Whoa calm down, who’s dead?”
The Wounded griffin replied with shame, “R-Roxanna… I tried to stop it… I I tried to fight it off her but… but… but it didn’t help. He… that thing ripped her apart all the same.”
A third spoke up, “Thing?... What was it? Timberwolves?”

Hatchet shook his head as he tried to calm down enough to explain clearly, “N-no… it was too vicious to be a temberwolf… I… I killed it… but… I didn’t… I buried an axe into its head and it still kept coming. I tried to save her… but… but it wasn’t enough. She was dead so… I ran… I’m not a coward… there was just nothing I could do.”
Zeil watched the sight in shock as the zebra took a sip of his tea and spoke with a careless tone, “A shame… to do everything you can and fail to save a loved one… Must be painful.”
Angered by how careless he seemed, Zeil looked to the zebra as he spoke, “You… do you have anything to do with this?”
The stranger gave him an annoyed look as he replied, “Stove your anger… Does it look like I have an axe imbedded in my head? Besides, look at his wound… I don’t have what is needed to make that kind of wound.”

Confused, Zeil looked back to the sight at the front of the room as the wounded griffin was approached by another as the second griffin spoke, “You did what you could, now let’s just get you patched up.”
As the wounded griffin uncovered his shoulder, Zeil could see his wound clearly. Though the blood made it hard to make out from the distance, Zeil could see that it was a shallow cut in the shape of a V that seemed to be made on both sides of his shoulder. At first Zeil didn’t understand what could make a wound like this, however as he watched the scene unfold, another griffin spoke, “A bite from a beak? Was the creature some kind of eagle?”
The Zebra continued watching without any emotion on the sight as he replied quietly enough for only he and Zeil to hear, “Or a griffin.”
Zeil looked at the Zebra, “A griffin? But why wou-“
Before he could finish, the wounded griffin at the front spoke, “No… it wasn’t an eagle… I think it was… Jake.”

Zeil was confused as another griffin in the tavern replied, “Jake? Your brother? But he was washed away with the bridge last week. We thought he was dead.”
The Hatchet shook his head, “No… his feathers and coat were pitch black, and his eyes were red, but… but I know my brother when I see him… it was him… I know it.”
With all of Zeil’s attention on the commotion, the elderly zebra took this time to reach into his cloak as he pulled out a small folded slip of paper. With no one paying him any attention, the old zebra preceded to hold the slip of paper over Zeil’s cup of tea as he unfolded it and poured a blood red powder into Zeil’s drink as he watched the potion dissolve into drink and vanish from sight.

With nopony seeing his action, the elderly zebra put away the slip of paper and continued drinking his own drink as the scene in the front of the room continued with another griffin speaking, “Where did this happen?”
Hatchet replied, “At the edge of the forest, Roxanna and I were trying to cut down a few extra trees before calling it a night… it’s my fault, I should have quit at the usual time. If I did, I could have saved her… I could have preven-“
The bartender approached with a first-aid kit as he interrupted, “Let’s not worry about that right now, let’s get you patched up first.”

As the griffins saw to their friend’s wounds, Zeil could hear a few of them talk amongst each other quietly, “You think he’s alright? Do don’t think he is just imagining this after losing his brother?”
Another griffin replied, “Hard to say… buried his axe in its head and it still kept coming?... I don’t know of anything that could do that and live much longer.”
The first griffin nodded, “I thought so… whatever attacked him is most likely dead now. Maybe a timberwolf or something similar. I hear they can combine their bodies into much larger creatures. Maybe they found a way to make them into a griffin.”
The second griffin nodded, “Yea, that or maybe he’s just over worked, Hatchet and Jake were very close. He could still be trying to cope with the loss in his own way. Either way we should see about Roxanna. She could have gotten away safely. Hatched has always been one to excaudate the truth a little bit.”

As Zeil listened in on the two whispering griffin, he looked back at the Zebra as he asked, “You don’t know anything about this do you? You think his story is true?”
The old zebra nodded as he sipped on his tea and replied, “I think, and I know it is true. This world is filled with all sorts of light, and darkness. And this thing that attacked him, is a form of darkness in itself.”
Zeil picked up his cup of tea as he asked with suspicion, “You say that as if you know exactly what attacked him… so, what was it? Was it a griffin like you say?”
Zeil took a drink of his tea as the zebra replied, “It is… or… it was… Let’s just say, sometimes, you truly don’t want to know the answer to something.”
Zeil held his tea as he replied, “Really… and why is that?”

The evil creature smiled, “Because when you truly know what darkness is, and what it can do… It will only remind you of the true horror of this world… and how helpless you are to stop it.”
At that moment, Zeil dropped his cup on the table as his head started to feel dizzy, as soon as he realized it, Zeil spoke, “Wh-what?... wait… you… what did yo-”
Zeil fell flat on the table as the zebra put the hood on his cloak up as he spoke, “Sorry Zeil… but for things to continue as they should, you cannot see what is about to happen here.”
As Zeil’s consciousness started to fade he could hear a griffin speak, “Hey is your buddy alright?”
The zebra lied, “Just a little tired, it’s been a long da-”
Before Zeil could hear more, everything to him, went black. As he succumbed to the zebra’s poison.

Hours later, Zeil woke to the feeling of cold water being splashed over his face in large quantities as the shocked changeling quickly sat up in surprise to find himself in what looked to be a jail cell. Outside the thick bars at the front of the cell stood four griffin guards wearing grey armor as the lead who was wearing polished silver armor looked to the guard on the far right as he spoke, “Thank you… Now give us a few minutes with him.”
The griffin to the far side was still holding the now empty bucket as he nodded before leaving the area and closing the doors behind him, leaving Zeil and the remaining three guards alone. As Zeil tried to rub his head in confusion, he realized there was an iron cuff around his neck that was connected to the floor beneath him as he spoke in confusion, “What? Where am I?”
The lead guard replied, “You’re at the Pergola Guard Post. But enough about that, we have some questions for you. Mr…?”

Although his memories felt fuzzy, Zeil could tell that something was wrong since he was locked in a cell, and he could feel a cautious hostility from all three griffin present. Since he wasn’t in any place to argue, Zeil replied, “Zeil… my name is Zeil… what do you want to ask?”
The lead guard spoke, “You can start with what happened at the Timberwolf Tavern last night… then we can move on to ho-“
A second guard who was leaning against the wall sighed before interrupting, “Why are we even bothering with this? It’s obvious what happened, he was found lying amongst the dead as if they were his pillows. Let’s face it, he killed the entire tavern, that and the fact that he is a stranger to this forest is evidence enough.”

Zeil was completely shocked by what he heard, “Wh-what?”
Seeing his surprise, the lead guard spoke, “So… you don’t know then. This morning we got a call from a waitress of the Timberwolf Tavern. When she reported in for work she found a bloodbath waiting for her. All twelve residents and their staff were found dead this morning as if they were mauled by a wild animal.”
The second guard spoke again, “And amongst them… we found you. Unconscious and unharmed, so that leaves us to ask… Why did you do it?”
The lead guard sighed as he spoke, “What my gung-ho subordinate is trying to say, is that we need you to tell us what you know about what happened last night. So far the rest of the village thinks you did it and we would like to get all the information before condemning you to gallows.”

Zeil tried to wrap his mind around what happened the night before as he spoke, “But… I didn’t hurt anypony…”
The third griffin who was silent the whole time nodded as he replied, “Makes since to me… all the victims were griffin, so no ponies were actually hurt last night.”
Zeil looked at that guard and replied, “You know what I mean… I wouldn’t hurt anybody.”
The second griffin sighed, “Sure you wouldn’t…”
The lead guard spoke, “Be that as it may, could you at least tell your side of the story? You can start with why you came to Wooden Pergola Forest. It’s not often we see zebra here.”
Zeil nodded, “I’m not a zebra. I’m a changeling.” Zeil changed into his changeling form as he continued, “I’m a traveler just passing through on my way to Equestria. I decided to stop at the tavern last night to rest and leave this morning.”

The second guard drew his sword, “A changeling! Now I know you killed them!”
The lead spoke, “Stand Down… I’ve seen his kind before. He’s a reform, word is this type of changelings are lucky.”
Zeil was confused, “Lucky? I don’t know about that. But reformed changelings are less hostile then parasitic ones.”
The quiet guard nodded, “Yea… and I don’t think anything about what happened last night could be considered… Lucky.”
The lead guard gave Zeil a curious look, “Wait… you said you’re a traveler?... you wouldn’t happen to be the one who was traveling from Spring Haven are you?”
Zeil nodded, “Well, I was in Spring Haven a number of months ago, but...”
The lead guard smiled, “So you’re him then aren’t you.”
The second guard gave his leader a confused look, “Wait… you know this guy?”
The lead spoke, “Not personally, but I got a message from a friend in the guard station a few kingdoms over who was talking about this guy. Says he showed up one day, disrespected the princess to her face, then surprised the whole kingdom when he saved her from a curse. Says he’s the real deal. A changeling who knows magic.”

The other two guards gave Zeil an impressed look as Zeil nodded, “Yea well… Let’s just say I was in town when I saw something that needed my help. That’s all.”
The lead smiled, “Well it was certainly an impressive story to say the least. But why did it take so long for you to get here? We heard that story a few weeks ago.”
Zeil nodded, “Well, I lost my wings a long time ago, so I’ve been traveling by hoof. And with the summer heat, and the fact that there were very few fresh water rivers between here and there, it became a little difficult traveling in the summer sun.”
The lead smiled, “Well that makes since.”
Zeil smiled, “So… does that mean my name is cleared?”
The quiet guard shook his head, “That’s a no-go on that one bud. Even a saint can fall from grace, so unless you have any solid evidence that clears your name, you’re still in the hot seat.”
The lead guard nodded, “I’m afraid he’s right, the story confirms your identity, but does nothing to prove your innocents. Especially for crime as serious as this. Do you remember what happened last night, possibly what caused you to fall unconscious?”

Zeil thought to himself as he tried to remember, “Well… I arrived at the tavern… then… I met wi-” He remembered something, “The Zebra!”
The three guards became interested as the lead spoke, “Zebra?”
Zeil asked, “Of the victims there, where there any zebra amongst them?”
The lead and second guard looked at the quiet one as he shook his head and replied, “No… all the victims were griffin.”
Zeil continued, “Then he survived too. There was a zebra there last night with the rest of us. I didn’t get his name, but I noticed something about him that was… uneasy…”
The lead guard asked, “Uneasy… how?”
Zeil replied, “We changelings can sense what a species is and their emotions, that’s how our old form could feed on love, but him… he had no emotions to sense. His mind was always calm with no hint of emotion in him at all. No surprise, no curiosity, no interest what so ever. He was emotionless all the way through… and not just that. There was something… dark about him. Something evil…”

The second guard sighed, “So it wasn’t you… it was the evil emotionless zebra? Sure… that’s what it was.”
Zeil gave that guard an annoyed look, “Predators show no emotion when they hunt prey. Instead they give a type of aura that makes them seem empty and heartless. This zebra gave the same aura.”
The lead guard nodded, “Either way, it’s worth looking into. We will put out a search for this zebra and asked him a few question. However, this doesn’t mean we can release you just yet. We still need more solid evidence before we can rule you out as a suspect. Is there anything else you can remember?”
Zeil tried to think, he remembered a little about the commotion that happened prior to his poisoning, but he couldn’t recall what it was about or who was involved so he shook his head, “There might be something else, but… I can’t remember what it was. Most of what happened after I arrived there is a little… fuzzy.”

The second guard sighed with exaggeration as he replied, “So we’re supposed to believe that you just forgot? Do you really think we are as dumb t-“
The lead guard raised his talon to silence his subordinate as he interrupted, “Now now, since Zeil here was found unconscious and didn’t wake till long after we brought him back, then it is possible that his sleep wasn’t as simple as being tired. Whatever happened however remains to be seen. So, for the time being, we will continue to hold him here till we can find further evidence, or until we apprehend this zebra character for questioning.” He looked back at Zeil, “Is that acceptable?”
Zeil knew he had no choice, so he just nodded, “Sure… I guess.”
The three guards nodded as they turned towards the door as the three guards left the room. After they were gone, the jailer returned with a small plate of bread as he gave the food to Zeil before taking up his post at a desk that overlooked the cells.

Outside the small jail building the elderly zebra stood and looked upon the building from a distance as the thick canopy above cloaked the area in an everlasting night. With only torches lighting the only stone structure in the forest, the cloaked Zebra remained hidden by darkness as he looked at the building and mumbled to himself, “With all the pieces on the board, it’s almost time to begin this game of ours. Soon, it will be time to kill an enchanter.”
All of a sudden, a ferocious roar from an unknown beast echoed throughout the forest behind him as he turned and looked into the distance as he smiled, “But first… I’m going to need a little help."

656 views

Previous Chapters Next

Love's Lost Decade - Priceless911

Stats

FIMFiction

Follow & Support Us