The Raven's Source

Chapter 1 - The Lost Boy

He stepped back and wiped his brow, heaving a large sigh of exhaustion. With just one sweep of his magic, he had leveled an entire acre of forestry, uprooted the trunks, and set all of the wood down in neat piles off to the side of the clearing.

"Damn, dude. You never cease to amaze," a voice chimed as a hand clapped down onto the young man's shoulder. He quickly pulled his hand away and grimaced, wiping his palm along his shirt. "Gross. That's all it took for you to break into that hard of a sweat? I gotta go all night to get that soaked!"

"Twyn, I don't want to hear about your pre-martial escapades. Really." He avoided looking at the 18-year-old behind him. He closed his eyes and raised both hands to the cleared field and took one more deep breath. "If you don't mind, would you stop being a sarcastic jackass and be helpful for a change? Lend me some of your source."

"Funny. But seriously, your shirt is disgusting to touch," he scoffed but obliged, setting his hand gently down on his friend's shoulder. He huffed a disgusted sigh feeling the sweat soaked t-shirt, "All yours, Shay-Shay. Take what you need."

Even being a little more than two years younger, Twyndis Sherson stood almost a foot taller than Shej who was only 5' 7". Twyn was the talk of the town with his red hair and intensely green eyes, and every Lady Of Age wanted him to take their hand as his. Shej on the other hand had hair black enough it seemed to devour sunlight, but his dark blue-gray eyes shined as if they had taken that light to shine brighter. Unlike Twyn, Shej preferred to stay...single. Ladies Of Age cooed at him every time he turned around, especially since he had been Of Age himself for a while, but he would smile, wave politely, and continue on with a sigh.

"If you don't like helping me, don't talk me into these ridiculously immense projects."

"Building a new hospital was needed. I'm doing this for the children."

"...yeah, the hundred soon-to-be children that will look just like you..." he muttered under his breath. He took a slow, deep breath and his hands started to glow, Twyn himself having a soft aura as Shej pulled from his source to strengthen his own. The ground started to roll like water, dirt and stones turning into paths and flower beds, the cut trees splitting into beams and creating a structure on top of a foundation as it finished forming. Water began to crawl across the ground from the nearby pond, mixing with the dirt and becoming clay before adhering itself to the beams to make walls and floor. The new hospital was much needed after the old one partially collapsed from age only two days ago. This one didn't need to be anything extravagant, their little village was home to only about two to three hundred villagers, but he created it to be a little roomier and more resourceful than the last. Just as the last of the shingles were about to set themselves down onto the roof and finish the structure, he let out a groan. "Shit...not again."

"Shej?"

"I'm sorry." Shej's voice creeped out of his throat like it was riding the last tiny ounce of air left in someone's lungs before his whole body collapsed straight to the ground.

"Sorry? For wha—shit, Shej!" He was able to hook his hands under Shej's arms before he fell too far and he strained as he tried to lay him down on the ground gently. He startled at a loud, clamoring noise and looked up to see the last few shingles having tumbled to the ground and break into pieces on the cement. He turned his focus back to his best friend, pressing his hand down hard on Shej's chest, sensing Shej's heart wasn't beating. "You asked me for some of my source, why didn't you take more, you IDIOT!!" His hand started to glow red and then shifted to green before to gold, the light seeming to leave Twyn's hand and fill Shej's chest. After a few moments, he stopped and sat up seeing Shej regain color in his flesh and though his friend was still limp and unresponsive, his body promised life. After taking a short breather at the sudden adrenaline rush, he stood and picked his friend up in his arms and carried him back into the village to their home.