Egon Wood ( E Gon )
Theresa Ashdown ( Tha Ris A )
Rayner Moonfall ( Ray Ner )
Pet: Bear Ares ( Ar Es )
Ceridwen Vix ( Care A Dwhen )
Pet: Owl Snow ( Snow )
Mali ( Mal E )
Mace Kane ( Mace )
Pet: Horse Nilas ( Neil Ass )
Duzna ( Duz Na )
Vestomer ( Ves Tom Ear )
Adisa Rathmore ( A Dis A )
Salina Mortem ( Sa LI Na )
Lilith Calarook ( Lie Lith Cal A Rook )
Talia and Sapphira ( Tal I A & Saf Fi Ra )
***********
Chapter Nine: Black as Night
Mali stood on porch of his house gazing into the field before him, watching as the children gathered 'round. Egon had worked up the courage to talk to Mace. He thought it would be a trial to make Mace listen, but to his surprise, the icy Magic Born was all ears.
Theresa slid off the back of Ares, and her expression spoke of fear. No one, except Mali, seemed to notice. Her vision, or day dream had dried the blood in her veins, and she was scared. That voice, those eyes, the shrill sound of claws on iron, and the enchanting promises the beast had given Theresa, made her wench.
Rayner peered at Ceridwen as she sat atop a bolder sharpening her arrows with a metal cluster. He had known her since Mali had recruited them, two years ago, and even though it was short amount of time, their friendship had grown. So the faint expression of sorrow that was embedded in Ceridwen's eyes, Rayner noticed, and he didn't ignore it.
Ceridwen couldn't stop thinking of her parents and she fought back the tears that were forming in her eyes. That prison, in darkness, no light, cold bodies. She couldn't fabricate the reality of it, the prison, was it even real, or a lie Mali told her to calm her stress. If her parents were still alive she would find them and she would rescue them from the hell hole they were captive in. Tenebris was no match for her, and she would do anything to find that prison.
Mali motioned for the group to trudge closer and then he spoke.
"You all might wonder as to why you will be journeying from the mountains on a mission for me." Mali paused to clear his throat and then continued. "Duzna and Vestomer have traitorous plans for the kingdom of Magur, and we cannot let them follow through, or it would mean the end of all the Magic Born."
"What do you mean the end of all Magic Born? Is he planning to exterminate our species?" Theresa questioned.
"Sadly, my dear, much worse than that. All the details have not made themselves known to me, but I have learned enough to know that you all need to journey to my brother's camp, or the Magic Born will not be tested next year, because there will be no more to test."
A ripple of frightened expression bounced from one face to another as the words left Mali's mouth.
"Your brother?" Theresa asked, perplexed.
"Yes, we are twins, and after The Great Castle Fire he fled out of Magur's reach, were he was untouchable by Vestomer's rage. It is said he has an outpost, and has been gathering Magic Born to overthrow the King."
"Is said to? Do you not know for certain he does?" Mace scoffed. If he could boggle everyone into thinking there was no hope, no outpost, no one to help them, maybe, just maybe they wouldn't go. Then he could save Lilith from Duzna.
"Oh Mace, deceit is never pretty on anyone." Mali said chuckling. Mace turned red, and everyone else stood confused, because the two shared a secret, Lilith. Mali was no fool, but Mace wondered how long he had known. "Now, children, you must begin your journey, do not wait until sunrise, leave now."
Mali began to turn and walk inside, but Theresa grabbed his sleeve, and without turning around he said,
"Follow me, my dear."
The two disappeared into the building, and the rest of the group filtered off to gather the supplies needed for their journey.
***
Mali motioned for Theresa to take a seat in the wooden chair and he slouched beside her, gripping his cane for balance.
Theresa stared at the ground, nervous to share her fears with this man she barely knew. But she felt trust, and strength in his words from earlier, so her gaze drifted upward.
"I've been having these─" But before she could even finish her sentence Mali's rosy red cheeks sported a smile and he said,
"Dreams? Theresa those are not dreams, those are visions."
Theresa's whole demeanor changed from faked confidence, to timid infant.
"That's what I feared." Theresa's muddy irises began to fill with salty tears. "Is it set in stone? Is there any way to avoid the atrocity?" She pleaded.
Mali trudged over to her and placed his hand on Theresa's shoulders. "It's your future, you make it as you wish, but death also has a say in fate, and if he wants you, he'll take you."
Mali kissed Theresa upon the forehead and managed a smile. "Now, my child, I haven't seen your visons, nor do I know your destiny, but be safe." Mali took Theresa's hand and lead her to the door way. "You need to prepare, there will be many trials ahead, that I do know."
***
When Theresa exited the building, Mace, Egon, Rayner, and Ceridwen were waiting on her. Egon was eyeing his spirit gem, trying to understand the properties of the enchanted jewel. Ceridwen was saddling Artemis and Apollo, strapping her bow to Artemis and slinging the quiver over her back.
Mace sat on the boulder Ceridwen had been atop earlier. A grim smirk rested upon his face as he sharpened two razor sharp axes.
Rayner stood, backpack drooping on his shoulders and one in his hand. Theresa smiled at him, noticing he packed her bag, and strolled over to take it from his hands.
The group stood in a line facing Mali, waiting for his goodbyes.
"Before you all leave, I need to speak with Egon." Mali said.
Egon stood and walked over to the old man, his peers staring with curiosity.
"In private!" Mali announced. Quickly everyone left, heading toward the barn in order to see that everything was ready for their journey.
"My boy, you do not need to beat yourself over the head like this." Mali extended his hand. "Hand me your gem, and staff." Mali commanded.
Even though Egon was puzzled, and understood nothing the man was saying, he passed Mali the items.
"Your future depends on your actions. Just because your powers have not surfaced yet, doesn't mean they don't exist."
Mali stiffened his fingers and made a pulling motion from the ground, then he dropped the gem and it hit the earth. A spiral of wood sprouted and incased the emerald. It began to form the shape of Egon's staff, except now the emerald had finger-like twigs holding it to the top of the wooden staff.
"I know I don't allow my students to chance weapons, but this time I'll make an exception." Mali said as he handed the new weapon to Egon. "Now boy, the wood is unbreakable, but don't rely on it all the time, use your wit. You must join the others and begin your journey."
***
Rayner and Theresa were mounting Ares as Egon emerged from the building and walked toward the barn. Mace was atop Apollo, a beautiful black stallion, and Ceridwen sat on Artemis.
"And where do you all suppose I am going to ride?" Egon asked.
Ceridwen locked eyes with Mace and nodded. He rolled his eyes and growled. After sliding off the horse he said,
"Here," and after hopping off Apollo, he whistled.
In the blink of an eye, a massive stallion raced to his side. The animal was not ordinary by any means; the horse's mane was icy blue and its eyes were the color of snow. The stallion's pale white coat shimmered in the setting sun.
"Meet Nilas, my sprit animal." The horse neighed and Mace stroked his snout. "Good boy."
"And why didn't you mount him to begin with?" Egon questioned.
Mace scoffed and hopped onto the horse.
"Ok then..."
The group set off toward the giant mountain in the distance.
"We can be at the base of that mountain by nightfall if we hurry," Rayner said.
***
Rayner, accompanied by Theresa, lead the pack, followed by Mace, then Ceridwen and Egon.
"What is his deal?" Egon asked Ceridwen, pointing to Mace.
"Nilas, his horse, was almost killed by Duzna. And now he keeps the stallion in hiding, hoping to persevere its life. So using him as a ride makes Mace utterly miserable," Ceridwen replied.
Egon didn't respond, but continued to ride in silence.
They rode, the whole group, without speaking until Rayner spoke up.
"It's getting late, we should camp here and continue towards the mountain tomorrow."
"Rayner, if we want to make it past the mountain and to Mali's brother's camp, shouldn't we travel through the path on the left of the mountain? It will be two days quicker than journeying over the massive hill." Mace said as everyone stopped and began to set up camp.
"Through the valley of thieves? I think not," Rayner said.
"Come on mate, we're Magic Born, we can handle whatever they throw at us."
"I suppose, but it's not final. We'll talk more tomorrow. Now then, let's get some rest," Rayner said as he lit a fire for the group to keep warm.
"Rayner, is it true?" Egon asked as everyone was laying blankets down and preparing for rest.
"You're going to have to be more specific. Is what true?" Rayner said as he removed his sword sheath and laid it on the ground.
"The stories of the creatures that roam these woods?" Egon said, terrifying himself more and more with every word.
In the light of the flickering flames Rayners face melting into a grave seriousness. "Absolutely. But we aren't going to have any encounters."
***
Theresa laid next to Egon, staring at the glistening stars when he grabbed her hand.
"Theresa?" He said in a hushed tone, trying not to wake the others. "How did it feel, you know, when you used your powers for the first time?"
Theresa sat upright and gazed at Egon. "It was instinct, when those men..." She paused and let a tear fall. "When those mean had captured me I felt unprotected then part of me snapped, like a missing part of me had been reconnected, and I felt complete."
***
After Egon had dossed off and Theresa was the only one awake was when she heard it first, a crunch of dead leaves like a predator approaching. She slowly turned around, one hand clutching one of her throwing knives, the other extended in front of her, levitating a massive rock.
The only light emitting in the forest was that of the dwindling fire. Theresa thought of waking the others, then the thought of the sound being in her imagination made her second guess.
If she woke them and it was just her mind playing tricks on her, they would be furious. Theresa plunged into the darkness, and she heard that eerie crunch again, but this time it came from behind her. She whirled around and fired the massive rock, but nothing was there.
The sound of footsteps echoed from her backside, and they were inching closer. This time she wasn't going to miss, she spun around and the stinging sight of those yellow eyes pierced her pupils.
Out of shock and fear, the blade fell from her hands. She stood, frozen, blood thickening, stress billowing.
"My dear Theresa, you found me"
A shadowy panther lurked two feet in front of her, and Theresa didn't know if the animal could be trusted.
"You can trust me child," The sound of a female's voice echoed in her brain, but the mouth of the animal didn't open.
"How did you─" Theresa tried to speak but the panther already knew what she was going to say.
"The spirit gem is the reason I can hear your thought, and you mine. You found me. I'm Nyx."
***
Duzna drug Lilith through the closed doors and into the throne room.
"Have good news for me, swine." Vestomer demanded as Duzna bowed at his feet.
"I met with Mace, he is being defiant, but threats were made and he knows his place." Duzna said clenching onto the rusted chain that held Lilith.
"You met with the boy, and you didn't kill him for his ignorance? Have I taught you nothing?" Vestomer roared
"I was in the form of a heat mirage, I couldn't harm him, even if I wanted to," Duzna said. Duzna had learned to use his powers in many ways, and manipulating the heat in the air, to form an image, was one of his many talents.
"And the girl, why is she here?" Vestomer barked.
"You said you wanted Mace dead, she's here to insure that." Duzna had a despicable smirk mold into his face.
"I WILL NEVER HARM MACE!" Lilith roared. "You'll have to kill me before I hunt the one I love!"
"Oh darling, I know you won't, but she will." Duzna pointed to Lilith's heart. "You can't control you powers, she won't listen to you. But she will listen to me."
Duzna spat out the words, then clapped his hands. The doors to the outside swung open and an unlucky guard was thrown inside, and the doors quickly shut.
"NO! PLEASE!" Lilith begged, as she dropped to the ground and violently shook until she peered back up with blood thirsty eyes. Like a wild animal, on all fours, she bounded toward the cowering victim that trembling on the floor.
Lilith lunged herself atop the fear filled guard, and tackled him to the floor. Like iron claws through wool, she ripped away his armor. Snatching off the man's helmet, she cackled.
"I don't know what you did to be in this situation, but it doesn't matter now." With those words she plunged her menacing hand through his body, and threw his remains against one of the massive columns. The cracking of broken bones could be heard as the man's lifeless body hit the granite beam.
Lilith rose from the ground with a glee filled smile upon her face, she didn't look any different than she did when Duzna had dragged her into that place, except here yellow eyes that glistened of death. But she was not the same on the inside, something dark had taken over, and her powers were out of control.
Crimson liquid dripped from her fingers and puddled onto the floor as she strolled back to Duzna. When she reached his feet she leaned toward the dark wizard and a crazed grin rolled upon her face. The words she spoke were not her own, but she could fight the urge.
"Tell me, master, where canI find Mace Kane?" 18088�~?�D