Beyond the Glow

Chapter 31

"Now that's what I call hot." Len says with a grin, rubbing his arms. They were bright red from where he'd tried to catch me I notice with a wince.

"Sorry about that." I shake my head, standing on wobbly legs, and glare at him. "What are you doing here?"

He stared at me, confusion and caution warring in his eyes. "I- came to save you. Yep. That's right."

"No. It's not right. What were you hiding?" I say, glaring at him. "I know you brought my memory back, but appearing out of nowhere in the forest to save me looks like stalking. Have you been following me all night?" My mind flashes back the the shaking bush, and the strange reaction to magic I had when there was nothing using magic but my branches.

"Maybe." Len says noncommittally. "I was following you and Leila to make sure you made it out of the capital lands alright, but I swear I didn't follow you after I saw Fira. Believe me, you don't want to be on her bad side."

"I can believe it." I say dryly. "But if you stopped following me, then how come you're here, and why doesn't Leila and the rest of the council seem to be aware of you and your magic? Cause Leila tried to put me on the council after only a day or two of knowing me." The time I was stuck alone with my thoughts and her in the back of my mind doesn't count.

"We'll," Len lets out a nervous laugh, "Funny story actually... They don't know because... Well, I haven't actually told them. I want to help, but I want to be on the fighting side, it gave me a better chance of finding you. Being stuck in some room somewhere just wouldn't do it, and then you didn't even recognize me at first." He sighed, deflating a bit.

"As for why I'm here now, I was headed back to the capital, because I was pretty sure you didn't want to see me. But I do have friends deeper in the organisation, so I'm not out of the loop. My friend Myles is actually a scout in training, and he just happened to get himself in the group escorting you."

Len grinned. "Awhile ago I showed him a spell to contact me if he was ever in trouble, and well, I bet you can guess what he did." Len turned, squinting into the woods. "I moved all the scouts into the woods over there, they would be bandaging each other up right now." He stopped, watching a boot emerge from the shadows, "Hey Myles, come over here and show Asra I'm not a stalker." He frowned back at me as the figure continued to emerge.

"See? I told you so." He said, but turned at the expression of fear and horror I imagined was on my face. Behind him was a person, but it definitely wasn't Myles.

A figure dressed all in black, wearing a cloak that hid all his features, with the cowl up.

A figure I hadn't seen since I tore down his secret dungeon in the castle.

The cloaked man.

"Well isn't this a happy reunion?" He said, his voice muffled by the hood of the cloak. "The street boy and the runaway, how wonderful." Len fell into a fighting stance, and I felt the magic in the air shift ever so sightly.

"What do you want?" I ask, the same time Len says, "Who are you?"

The cloaked figure just laughed, without any amusement. "It's a wonder you managed to sneak up on my men," He said, looking at Len. His voice neither high nor low, it was hard to tell he was even a man at all.

"Ah, I see." He continued, noticing the trees leaning inwards, down towards the the two of them. "Forest magic then." Len frowned, his face creasing in concentration, before he took a step back, clutching his head.

"Ah ah ah, my friend." The cloaked man said. "Mind magic as well I see, but it's not wise to reveal all your cards at the beginning of the game. Now that I know you are multi-elemental, that makes you all the more powerful to me." Their voice wavered slightly, as if nervous. I frown.