Tragedy Begets Tragedy (ORP)
Apr 17, 2016 3:29:37 GMT -5
Tout-Perd, Beelzebibble, and 2 more like this
Post by Silumas on Apr 17, 2016 3:29:37 GMT -5
By the gods was she ever beautiful.
That was the only thought the young Magus could think while the two of them sat by the waterfall, enjoying an evening meal. Silumas was thinking of Wyren, the girl he’d been training with for the last fourteen years. She was his quintessential opposite. Where he was tall, she was barely over five feet. Where he was portly, she was lithe. Where he kept his raven black hair neatly groomed and trimmed, her blond locks were always wild and unkempt. Her skin was pale, an alabaster that drunk in the sun while his held an exotic olive-tint. In fact, they were diametrically opposed in almost every way save for the affection they shared for each other, and their age just into their teens.
The two of them, Wyren and Silumas, lived in a secluded valley full of lush forests, gentle rivers and streams, and the iconic one-hundred-foot waterfall at the White Cliffs. The cliffs were so named due to the chalky rock face extending for miles both north and south. It provided a significant amount of seclusion for the two young loves when they could get away from their training. The waters of the fall were crystal clear, and the sounds of the thunderous aquatic collision provided a perfect background for an afternoon nap or the giggling of puppy love.
Wyren and Silumas’ lives had been abnormally difficult ones. Ever since either of them could remember, they had had only each other to rely on during the strenuous, painful lessons taught to them by Ursan. They were obviously unrelated, but had been raised together in the secluded valley for the last fifteen years knowing only one another and their master, Ursan. He was a vicious, old sorcerer bent on revenge against the creature that killed his wife twenty years ago. At least, that was what the two of them had surmised over their lives based on his rantings and ravings they had heard. They also knew that Ursan was the closest thing they would ever get to a parent, as he had created them.
Wyren and Silumas were magical constructs. Built using machinery they only ever remember seeing once. They were about as foreign and alien from everything around them as could be. They drew breath, ate food, drank water, and as Silumas could attest from his yearly colds, they even got sick. Yet, Wyren and he had never been born from a fleshly womb. They were conceived from the will and skill of a man bent on revenge, not the love of a couple.
The sun was setting above the falls adding a majestic, prismatic gleam to the water and not a small amount of romance. Wyren and Silumas sat together upon a small outcropping of rock above the deep blue pond. They faced the falls, arms intertwined, and Wyren’s head rested on Silumas’ shoulder. Silumas wore his drab, black robes given to him by Ursan though the cowl remained down as Wyren repeatedly requested. She wore a sunflower yellow tunic, tight black pants, and her golden hair loosely bunched into a pony tail.
The young romance between these two was not very physical, the closeness they held now was about as significant as it got. Instead, it was shared trauma, loneliness, and friendship that drew them together. The bond they shared ran deeper than any blood relationship, than any relationship defined by sex or lust. Wyren loved Silumas, and he very much loved her.
They had snuck away earlier in the day when Ursan had fallen asleep from an abundance of wine. They had spent the day laughing, joking, and playing games with the magic they had learned. Silumas would throw a bolt of Fire towards Wyren who would masterfully counter with a wave of Water. Silumas would combine Earth and Life, creating tiny soldiers of twigs and sticks that would march dutifully towards Wyren to wrestle her to the ground while he tickled her feet. Wyren, escaping after fits of giggles, bound Air and Water together and using a very skilled throwing arm bounced the glob of icy water off the ground and up into Silumas’ robes, soaking his underpants with a cold that both stung and shocked. His gasp for her caused her to laugh harder than any of his tickles had. Then, they found their favorite spot in front of the grand waterfall.
They had watched the falls for hours now, with Ursan in one of his drunken stupors they had been able to sneak out. Silumas’ mind, ever the obedient studious one, kept wandering back to the treatises they were to be writing regarding the mingling of Fire and Earth and its effect on tectonic activity in a world could be felt even through the tiniest vibration. He knew that magma was the purest form in the physical plane of the expression of Fire and Earth together, becoming lava when Air gathered into the mix. What he had been trying to write involved how to keep magma from becoming lava when it reached the surface to be used as a weapon against…
She smells like blueberries…
He was studious, not stupid. When a pretty girl snuggled with you, that is to what you paid attention. Wyren snuggled in closer, her breathing shallow and slow, and he realized she had fallen asleep. He brushed a small blonde lock from her face and behind her ear when he gave a great, loud yawn. Wyren blinked awake slowly and gave Silumas a gentle smile, a yawn forming on her lips as well. She stretched wide and looked to the sky, watching the four moons dance in the sky.
“Silli...Silli...oh no, its gotten dark and we aren’t at home!” Wyren exclaimed, shooting to her feet and gathering their bags full of fruits and vegetables, with a bit of salted pork for Silumas, they had brought for their meal. They had hardly touched it. Wyren took off running back through the forest towards the small cabin the three of them had called home.
Silumas grew wide-eyed, his mouth turning dry almost instantly. Ursan had been drunken and passed out before lunch, he had surely woken since then. When he did awake, and discovered them gone, he would have flown into a rage. They would be lucky to live through the night, let alone escape his torments. The young Magus stood, grabbed what simple things Wyren had not, and took off after her.
The job back did not take long, perhaps a quarter of an hour had passed before the cabin came in sight. The nearest town was more than a day’s journey north into a Midland kingdom, so the journey was through darkness and the twisting woods of the Steelbark Forest. Normally, the elven races that called this place home would have turned out Ursan and his creations when they first arrived, but even they kept their distance from the maddened wizard.
The cabin was a two story, finely crafted abode. Its timber all from the titular Steelbark trees which made it sturdier than any stone, and large enough to house a few bedrooms in addition to the kitchen and common room. Each room had a couple windows, with slats of Steelbark to shutter them in the case of inclement weather or attack. The gray of the wood cloaked the house in shadow and mystery at night, but was a fitting contrast to the smoky, dark bark of the trees and emerald green flora that surrounded their home.
No smoke wafted from any of the chimneys which was an omen that filled the duo with dread. It was their duty to keep the fires lit and Wyren had already missed the time to serve dinner at a reasonable hour. Silumas caught up to Wyren, almost bowling her over, as she had slowed to a light-footed walk to keep their presence hidden for a bit longer.
They both froze with baited breath as they listened for some sign of the angry sorcerer within throwing a fit because his protégé had not done as they were told and stayed to tend the home and their studies. They heard not a peep from the house, just the gentle droning of the local nocturnal fauna, the soft rustling of the breeze through the Steelbark leaves, and..
Snoring.
Ursan was still sleeping. The two looked at each other with a smirk and crept slowly back to the house. Ursan was still passed out in the common room, face down on the cushions of the masterly crafted armchair he sat in most days, staring at the window into the eastern mountains, when he wasn’t yelling at them, hitting them, or worse. Softly, silently, carefully the two of them started to put things in order through the house. Silumas lit the large fireplace in the common room, slowly stoking it to full blaze so as to not wake their Master. He also got the wood burning in the large cast iron stove Wyren used to fix their meals. Wyren in the meantime put their books and quills, with some scribbled on parchment in their rooms to make it look like they were studying as they were supposed to, and once the oven was lit she began to cook a venison stew that filled the house with an aroma even a king would be impressed by.
The smell slowly roused the drunken wizard and his awakening groans as he stretched his large arms that were as big around as Silumas’ entire body. Ursan was a large man, in every sense of the word. The common folk who had dared speak with the children had jokingly said that Ursan’s mother knew what he would look like because she named him after a bear. Built like a barrel, with arms that seems more akin to driving hammer to anvil than casting spells, Ursan was an intimidating sight. His face was thick was a dark red beard, covering a face most would think were friendly until he curled his mouth up in a sneer, and burned them to ash with a flick of a meaty wrist.
“Smells good, lass…” the wizard slurred, still drunk apparently from the tankard of wine that fell off his chest as he stood, irreparably staining a book he had fallen asleep reading, “It’d better be edible this time…”
Wyren did not say a word, her eyes cast to the ground, as she sat Ursan’s bowl at the head of the small table. She fixed another for herself and one more for Silumas, bringing them both to the table, and sitting quietly. Silumas grimaced as he watched her lose the life and energy she had when they were away because of the monster with which they shared a home. Still, he was hungry simply because it smelled so good, and they sat to eat.
The meal passed without much conversation. Ursan grunted his approval after his first bite, quickly finished his bowl, and shoved it towards Wyren. She meekly stood, grabbed it, and fixed him another helping. This one, he ate slower, which allowed Silumas and Wyren to finish their meal. They waited, hands in their lap, while Ursan sloppily gulped down the remnants of his food. Wyren then stood, quiet as a mouse, and took his bowl to the sink to wash it.
“Girl, I wanted more,” Ursan growled, his voice dark. He was starting to sober up, which meant he was getting sullen and irritable.
“I...I’m sorry, I…” she stammered, and Ursan flew to his feet, his chair flying backwards and onto its side. The clattering made her jump.
“By the crows, it doesn’t matter now, does it? The bowl is filled with that filthy dish water. Did you clean the dishes today?” Ursan demanded, his eyes ablaze with unreasonable fury.
“I didn’t...I couldn’t...the studies kept me…” Wyren tried to stammer out an excuse.
Two steps and Ursan was beside her and the back of his hand collided with Wyren’s cheek sending her to the ground with an vicious crack. Silumas got to his feet then, his fists balled tightly, his knuckles whitening. Ursan’s punishments, warranted or not, usually involved a great deal of physical pain, and sometimes even a little magical. He was not a great wizard, in fact, their skills already outstripped his own, but he was bigger, meaner, and scarier. Silumas was beginning to understand that fact when he was able to make more complex weavings than what Ursan could demonstrate to them. The nasty tyrant they called a parent required Artifacts to assist in his magics, Artifacts like the machine that had created them, and he had destroyed years ago in his ineptness.
This event was not new to them, but Silumas’ reaction was certainly something new. Ursan was standing over Wyren, ready to belligerently berate some more for some slight or another, when he noticed his other pupil was standing a few feet away, fists shaking and tendrils of energy crackling off him like tiny, effervescent lightning bolts in all of the colors of magic: red, blue, green, amber, white, and black.
“What’s this then?” Ursan said, chuffing and taking a stride towards Silumas.
“Leave her alone,” was the only response he got from the teenager, his hands slowly opening and small balls of fire forming within them.
“Or?” Ursan asked, a mad glee entering his eyes.
“Silli...don’t….Ursan, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Please, just leave Silumas alone, I’ll do whatever you want,” Wyren pleaded, her eyes staring into Silumas, trying to tell him to stand down, to leave it alone, to tell him she was worried for him.
“I said,” Ursan said, before swinging his arm in an arc, his ham-sized fist barreling into Silumas’ temple, “OR?!”
Silumas launched the balls of flame in his hand as he hit the floor, toward Ursan’s face. The magic made the briefest contact before Ursan had waved his hand at the point of contact, a small bit of Water in his palm, negating the entire effect.
“Pathetic,” Ursan growled, spitting on his downed pupil.
“You may be more talented than I am, younglings, but I am vastly more experienced,” Ursan began a small combination of Fire and Death in his palm, and a sickly, sulfurous smell filled the room.
He knelt down beside Silumas and glared into the young Magus’ eyes. A sick grin grew across the wizard’s face as he pressed that palm into Silumas’ stomach. It melted the robes in a split second, and the pain was beyond anything Silumas had ever felt before. The magics in Ursan’s hand simultaneously burned and rotted his flesh. Silumas wretched to his right, his body entering shock from the severity of the excruciating pain emanating from the pus-filled sore on his stomach.
“Ursan...please...please stop,” Wyren was crying hysterically tugging on the wizard’s other arm, as he continued to press into Silumas’ flesh, an inch deep at this point.
“He needs to learn his lesson, girl,” the evil gleam in Ursan’s eye softened, though, and he slowly pulled his hand away from Silumas’ chest.
Blood, pus, rotting flesh oozed from Silumas’ torso and he lay there, involuntary screams erupting with every breath as each movement caused him greater and greater pain. With Ursan releasing him, all Silumas could do was roll to his right to keep himself from drowning in his own vomit. Tears streamed down his cheeks, mixing with the snot, blood, and sick his cheek now rested in.
“Clean him up,” Ursan growled before walking away, to his own quarters in the back of the cabin.
As soon as the wizard was out of sight, Wyren rushed to Silumas side and began working magic of her own. She summoned a combination of Air and Water, not unlike the prank she had played on Silumas before, creating a malleable, formable, gel-like material that was cold to the touch. She laid that on Silumas’ head to help with the fever he now had from the mortal wound in his stomach. She then summoned thin strands of Life and began working on his wounds, stitching it as a normal healer might with thread. This encouraged his body to heal much more rapidly than it would otherwise, and soon all that remained of the gaping hole in his torso was a badly burned, bright pink scar. She combined the Life strands together to form a small woven and began dabbing at the scar and with each dab the wound healed more and more, until it was almost as if nothing had happened. All that remained was the mixture of foul fluids on the floorboards and his face.
Silumas sighed with relief as the pain was lessened, but he found it hard to even open his eyes. Healing, especially that much healing, took a lot of energy from the individual being healed. A normal human, maybe even an elf, would have found the process too demanding and perished then and there from pure exhaustion. Silumas was no mortal, however, and Wyren was no normal healer. Where Silumas was skilled in the arts of combat magic and dealing death, Wyren had an innate understanding of healing and defense.
She smiled as she see him blink slowly, knowing what she had done had restored him, if worn him out. A bit of Water and she had his face and the floorboards cleaned, and despite her thin frame, she helped Silumas to his feet and assisted him as they walked back to their room. It took them a few minutes to make the short journey, as Silumas could barely stand. As she helped him lay back in his bed, she sat beside him and gave him a light kiss.
“Thank you, Silli,” she whispered, “even though that was stupid, idiotic, and could have gotten you killed...Thank you.”
“I would do anything for you, Wy….” Silumas spoke in painful wheezes. Despite the healing, it would take rest for his body to fully recuperate.
“Just...just promise me you’ll never be like him,” Wyren said, her eyes tearing up.
“Never,” Silumas whispered, his body finally too tired to keep him conscious. He drifted to sleep quickly after that.
Wyren leaned over and kissed Silumas’ forehead before changing to her night clothes and sliding into her bed across the room.
“You had best keep that promise, Silli. I’m holding you to it,” she said before closing her eyes and drifting into sleep herself.
Weeks would continue like this, the pair studying, learning, growing. Ursan would ‘teach’ them, and they would have to patch each other up with harsh words from the wizard. Silumas and Wyren only understood this life, but something was stirring within them both. They snuck out more, going to spar and train with one another, something they were not allowed to do at the cabin. Silumas began to try to defend Wyren more, despite the excruciating lesson Ursan tried and kept trying to teach him. Each time, Ursan would beat him through some clever tactic or another, and each time Silumas would end up on the receiving end of a very harsh experiment in torture. Then, one morning, the pair awoke after a long night of healing one another’s deep gashes and wounds, they discovered they were alone.
Ursan was gone, and was nowhere to be found. The pair assumed he had left for town to buy up some supplies in exchange for the goods he created from his magics. Crafting from Steelbark was almost impossible without master crafted tools from the elves, and the few humans that lived on the border of the forest had no such tools, and never would if the elves had anything to say about it. The trip was a regular one for the wizard, but the pair had always been brought along. This time, it would seem, they would be left to tend to their studies and the cabin while Ursan was away.
The two of them spent their time continuing to spar and improve their skills, and without the constant beating and berating from the tyrant Ursan, they enhanced their skills swiftly. Silumas became masterful with his control over Fire and Earth, and through very painful experience, was beginning to master the use of Death as well. Wyren already masterful with Life, was quickly becoming unparalleled in her ability with Water and Air.
Silumas could turn a flowing river to molten lava with his magic, and Wyren could change it back, as they had discovered accidentally a few days into their solitude. Silumas could wilt plants for yards in every direction with his control of Death, and Wyren could bring them back to full bloom with Life, stronger and more vibrant than ever. Days passed by in this pattern with no sign of Ursan. With winter settling in, Silumas kept the fires going without any need for wood or fuel, and Wyren kept them fed with delectable treats she grew in minutes from nothing. To her credit, what she was able to put together convinced Silumas to become a vegetarian like her.
Days ago, when Wyren had convinced him to help her prepare the meals, Silumas had wanted to use their powers to quicken the preparation and more-or-less instantly prepare their food. Wyren had said it took something from the flavor, and with a squeeze of his hand with hers, and a batting of her eyelashes, Silumas found himself in the kitchen. She was fixing a broiled savory vegetable she had dreamt up earlier in the day (and grown in the palm of her hand), while Silumas watched and stoically rotated grilling ears of corn, seasoned with garlic, spices, and a milky oil that tasted like butter. They did not say much while they cooked together, eyes changing from looking at one another with that twinkle of a deep, heart-felt love before returning to the food with an almost carnal hunger.
“Thank you for convincing me to do this the old fashion way, Wy,” Silumas smiled as they set the food on the table, then sat next to each other to enjoy their meal.
“I knew you’d figure out how right I was eventually,” Wyren said around a mouthful of vegetable, a smirk on her face, “just had to get it through that thick skull of yours.”
They chuckled for a moment before the door to the cabin slammed open, and in walked Ursan.
Why? Why couldn’t he just stay away forever?!
“The beast is back!” Ursan exclaimed between mouthfuls of food, and for the first time the pair of them saw the grumpy wizard with a smile on his face while he was sober.
“Finally have dinner ready on time, eh girl?” Ursan said, sauntering to the table and plopping himself on the chair opposite them, seeing no more food available, he reached over and took Silumas’ plate.
The two of them shared a quick glance and they began to get excited themselves. Years ago, Ursan had explained the purpose to their existence. They were created to destroy the beast in revenge for the creature killing Ursan’s family. He had had a wife and six children before the giant lizard-like beast had wandered into their village. The size of a castle itself, it was a force of nature unlike anything they had seen before. It had destroyed everything in a matter of moments, and no weapon could harm it. Nothing except Ursan’s magic. It wounded the creature, if the way a nail might harm a carpenter. He was not strong enough to destroy the thing, but it was warded off, if too late to save Ursan’s wife and children. He had promised them they would be free to do what they wished once the creature was destroyed.
“Where?” Silumas asked, his voice dry and to the point, giving no hint as to the excitement and dread he felt about facing the creature. If they won, they would be free to leave Ursan and seek out a life for themselves. But, if the creature was as powerful as Ursan had described, over and over and over, then it may not be so simple. They may be outmatched and could be killed themselves.
“Its to the East, just over the mountains. I saw it, if for only a moment! Tomorrow morning, the two of you are heading that way, and you’re going to kill it,” Ursan declared, nodded to himself, and dug into the plate of food he had taken from Silumas.
“As you wish, Ursan,” Wyren said, her face down, eyes staring at the floor, submissive.
“Good, now, go to bed, you have a long journey ahead of you tomorrow,” Ursan ordered, and shooed them to their rooms, devouring both plates of food.
When the two reached their rooms and began dressing for bed, Silumas and Wyren were giddy and anxious at the same time.
“Do you think its as powerful as Ursan says?!”
“Can you believe it?! We might be free soon!”
“I love you!” Silumas exclaimed, and grew shocked, swallowing hard. His arms frozen above his head from the excitement, and now he just simply could not move them.
Wyren stood there with all excitement, anxiety fading away into confusion. For a moment.
“Silumas, I love you too,” she said before planting a kiss on his lips.
The young Magus held his arms above his head for a moment with her lips pressed to his, eyes even wider than they were a moment ago. He stayed like that for what seemed an eternity before he finally understood what was going on, his dream was coming true. Wyren, the woman that was everything he was not, the person who had been with him through the worst life had to offer, his soulmate, had said she loved him. The fact she had said it in response to him accidentally blurting it out was irrelevant. Wyren was Silumas’, and has been for so many years now, Silumas was Wyren’s. They fell asleep together that night, Silumas holding Wyren close, and had the best night of sleep they had ever had.
The next morning, the two awoke before the dawn, grinning and giddy. They packed slowly and carefully, trying not to wake Ursan who would be sleeping in his quarters for a few more hours yet. Wyren packed a few essentials, a change of clothes, a couple meals, and then told Silumas they were ready to go. Silumas gave her a funny look, but didn’t argue, and followed her outside. Outside, and straight into the path of Ursan.
The burly wizard sat outside the door, smoking his pipe and not a bottle of wine or booze was to be found anywhere. Wyren had frozen when she saw him, and Silumas almost ran her over on his way out the door. Ursan glanced to the pair and his eyes narrowed.
“Good, getting an early start,” Ursan said as he stood and went behind the two of them, and swiftly placed his hands on the backs of the head and they felt a sharp pinch.
Gasping they reached their hands back to feel a kind of device attached to their skulls with eight sharp spines. It was shaped like a spider with a dark black onyx gem affixed in the thorax. Silumas turned and began to summon Fire to his palms in anger.
“Now, boy,” Ursan said with a grin, “you have definitely been getting stronger, stronger than I can control soon I believe.” The wizard’s speech seemed different, more articulate. Ursan sober was not something they were used to seeing. “So, I needed to reassure myself that the two of you would fulfill your purpose and not just run off.”
“What…what is this?” Wyren asked, grasping at the spines and trying to pry it away, to no avail.
Silumas, tried strengthening himself with Earth and rapidly healing the spots where the device was attached with Life but could make no difference, it would not budge.
“That, girl, will kill you should I send Death to it. Your life is in my hands,” Ursan nodded, and then grimaced, his sober self not as comfortable with what he was doing as they would have thought, “so please, don’t give me a reason to use it. Kill the beast, come back, and I will remove it, as only I can. You have three months. It will take you one to travel there, one to travel back, that gives you another to do with as you will. If you do not come back within those three months, it will destroy you. Understood?”
Silumas was enraged.
How could he do this? I will obliterate him where he stands!
“And, in case you are thinking what I believe you to be thinking, boy,” Ursan scowled, “the timer is already set. Death with consume you in three months if I do not remove the device. So, if you kill me, you doom yourself…and your little lady.”
Silumas could not bear to stand their much long with the smug look on Ursan’s face. Instead, he grabbed Wyren by the wrist and began the trek north to the village where they would be on the road to travel through whatever pass would take them through the mountain and to the beast. Wyren stumbled along behind him, still in a bit of shock at what had just transpired. After they had traveled an hour she pulled Silumas to a stop.
“Silli…wait, I’m tired,” she complained, sitting on a log. She was dressed in a tight yellow tunic, belted at the waist with dark brown leather. On her back was the backpack she had packed their meager supplies, and her loose black trousers and knee-high boots completed her ensemble. Silumas was dressed out of his robes today, a rarity for him. Instead, he wore a loose gray tunic, also belted in dark leather, with similar black trousers and boots.
“You heard him, Wy. We don’t have time to rest. We have to get there and back within the season, or his blasted traps will eat us away!” Silumas exclaimed, not so much upset with her as with the situation, but still his tone held something undesirable.
“I have a secret…” Wyren said mischievously, ignoring the darkness in his voice.
Silumas narrowed his eyes in suspicion, “What is it?”
“I learned something new last week. I’ve been waiting on the right time to show you. Our trip won’t take us nearly so long…” Wyren said, turning to face the mountains to the east. “Follow me!”
With that the young lady Magus took off at a sprint, heading to the east, suddenly forgetting how tired she was. Silumas grinned, despite everything, she still had the heart to play games and enjoy herself. She put the gladness back in his heart and he took off after her. In a few minutes of playing cat-and-mouse through the Steelbark Woods, they found themselves on an outcropping with a fantastic view of the mountains. Wyren stopped at the edge of the cliff and stared at one mountain in particular.
“What are you doing?” Silumas asked curiously, he had never seen this magic before.
“With a combination of Air and Life, and a lot of finesse, I can create a kind of doorway that will take as to that mountain in a single step…I think,” Wyren said, her voice a bit shaky at the end.
“You think?” Silumas asked incredulously, “Have you even done this before?”
“Yeah, but it was just a few dozen feet before. This is going to be tough, but I think I can do it,” Wyren said, confidence reentering her voice. She finished with a nod and looked to Silumas, simultaneously expecting approval and acceptance of her decision.
“I…I don’t…Ok, Wy,” Silumas said with a nod and a grimace, “We do it your way. Just…try not to kill us, ok?”
Wyren grinned and began weaving an intricate threading of Life and Air in front of her the patterns becoming more and more complex until finally the portal sprang into being. The edges were a vibrant blue, light in color almost like ice. Inside was something Silumas did not even realize was possible. He saw the peak of the mountain beyond as if he were standing there. Snow blew in swirls from the gusty wind at the top of the mountain, and he could see the individual snowflakes billowing around. Wyren squeed in excitement upon seeing the completed portal, gave a proud glance back to Silumas, and took the step off the cliff. She went through the gateway of the portal and found herself on the peak of the mountain. Silumas could see her through it and she waved him forward.
Taking a very deep breath, Silumas took that step forward off the cliff. His boot crunched through the freshly fallen snow, and he found himself on the peak with Wyren. It was truly astonishing. One moment, they were in the brisk chill of the late autumn Steelbark, and now they stood on peak of one of the mountains in the World’s Fold range, a hundred miles away. Silumas just stared at Wyren in disbelief. Silumas was perhaps the most technically proficient sorcerer in the world, able to perform feats with a breath that wizards could take decades to even learn. Yet, he would never have the sheer power Wyren did with magic, the natural talent.
By the gods…she is beautiful.
Wyren smiled humbly, yet he could see the pride her eyes. Silumas was speechless, only reaching out to her and pulling her into an embrace. The incredibly stark mountain air allowed his nose to pick up every scent of her hair, her skin, and the soap she had used to bathe with the night before. They were together, Ursan was a hundred miles away, and the entire world was at their fingertips. In that moment, on top the mountain, Silumas was the happiest he had ever been.
“Come on, Sili, lets hunt that thing down, then spend a couple months holding each other,” Wyren said, staring up into Silumas’ eyes, “What do ya say?”
Silumas grinned, “Sounds like one of the heavens.”
Wyren stared to the east and saw the arid landscape that awaited them. The World’s Fold kept the moist air from the westerly oceans from reaching this part of the world, so rainfall was sparse. It was a dry, rocky region that was not going to be a lot of fun to trudge through. Lucky for them, then, that Wyren had learned to make a portal.
They spent the better part of a week jumping dozens and dozens of miles before they finally caught up to the creature. The beast was massive, bigger than the village Silumas and Wyren had visited, bigger than most hills they had seen. It had the stature of a lizard, with spines sticking out every which way, and its hide a dark, crackled brown. Its mouth could swallow their cabin whole, and one of its four legs would have no issue squashing a copse of Steelbark trees. Even from here, dozens of miles away on a cliff face, they would watch it roar and hear it moments later, still thunderous and shaking them to the core.
“Are you ready?” Silumas touched the small of Wyren’s back as he asked the question, and she felt certain he was steadying himself as much as her.
“As ready as I could be,” Wyren said ruefully, “No sense in holding this off…can’t really plan an attack on something like that, right?”
“You know me, Wy,” Silumas said with a grin, “I can plan for anything…but you’re right, most any plan would fall apart the minute that thing knows we are there.”
“Then, why wait?” Wyren said as she performed her casting of Life and Air, this time much quicker than the first she had done back in the forest. It took only a half-a-minute for her to complete the casting. The portal would take them just behind the beast as it walked, it none-the-wiser to its appearance. Wyren started to step through before Silumas grabbed her shoulder and shook his head slowly. Taking her place, Silumas walked through the gateway and appeared just behind the beast.
Before he even had time to think about, he summoned a massive amount of Air with a bit of Death and his hand crackled with the energy of a dozen thunderstorms. He flung his hand out and that lightning arced across the sky and collided with the back of the beast, scoring it along its right side for a dozen meters before Silumas’ energy finally ran out. The beast roared in pain and whipped its tail as it spun, colliding with Silumas and sending him sprawling hundreds of feet. He smacked into a rock outcropping and his breath knocked out of him, ribs cracking. He had accomplished his goal, however, as the beast was definitely focused on him, and ignored Wyren coming through the portal moments later.
Doing as he had been taught by Ursan all these years, he gritted his teeth through the pain and got to his feet, fire building across his entire form. The beast, its massive jaws open wide, shot its head down to swallow up Silumas. The young Magus was too quick, however, the power of Fire and Air sending him speeding toward the creature’s front left leg. Forming the fire into a massive spinning, razor-thin disk, he hurled at the knee joint and heard the satisfying sizzle as the fire disk tore through the limb and severed it off completely.
The creature gave a massive yelp and reared onto its back legs, trying to fall back down on Silumas with its good leg. Silumas managed to roll out of the way, but just barely. His enhanced speed greatly lessened after that attack. It tried to stomp again and this time caught Silumas’ left leg under him. The leg crushed instantly, shattering beyond recognition and rendering the young Magus helpless. Silumas screamed with pain, but his eyes only flashed with anger. As the creature brought its foot back up to deliver a killing blow to his head, Silumas summoned an enormous amount of Earth into himself, strengthening his arms and right leg, he managed to catch the beast’s foot, preventing it from crushing the rest of him.
The beast growled in frustration and pressed harder, and Silumas’ strength quickly began to waver. Then, Wyren launched her own assault. She dove onto the muzzle of the massive creature, a great sword made of ice in her grip, she drove the blade deep, to the hilt, into the beast’s skull. It thrashed and thrashed, trying to shake off the blade driven right to its brain. All that served to do was scramble more and more of what was left of its brain matter. In moments the beast toppled down, nearly crushing Silumas with its head.
A few breaths later and the beast ceased moving. Silumas dragged himself away, Earth still keeping the pain from causing him to collapse, he knew soon Wyren would move to heal him like she always did. Sure enough, he saw Wyren hop off the beast and move to beside him.
“Well, now, you have got to be more careful, boy,” Wyren said in a mocking tone, imitating Ursan. She smiled and kissed Silumas on the forehead before summoning Life to her palm and getting to work on his legs. “We did it, Silli, we are free.”
Silumas laughed, which caused him to cough up a bit of blood, “That we are, Wy. I can’t believe we did it. I love you.”
Wyren continued to work as he talked, her eyes glistening with tears of joy, “Oh Silli….Silumas, I lo…”
Before he knew it, Silumas had lost the love of his life.
The beast had one last thrashing of life, one last chance at revenge, and it took it. Its head snapped over to Wyren, its teeth sinking deep into her torso. It shook its head violently, tearing Wyren apart and spreading pieces of her for yards around them, before its last bit of strength was expended and it collapsed to the ground.
Silumas screamed in horror, in pain, and he did not stop screaming. He refused to believe what happened, crawling his way to what remained of her torso, the head barely attached. He pulled her into his lap and sobbed, screaming words incomprehensible. For hours that was all he could, screaming until his voice went hoarse, and continuing to weep uncontrollably.
To Silumas, Wyren was what happy meant. She was Home. He could not bear the thought of living without her, she was everything to him. Then, Silumas remembered the device on the back of his head, the one Ursan had planted there. Silumas had sworn to himself he would make Ursan pay for what he had done to Wyren, to him, their entire lives. His eyes still watering, he sighed knowing he would not get to keep that oath. He reached back to the device, summoned every bit of strength he had left, from Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Life, and Death and he pulled. He felt a sickening snap, and then everything went black.
Around him, however, the world erupted in a light brighter than a thousand suns. Silumas, the beast, and Wyren were consumed in a blinding flash that was seen for dozens of miles in every direction. The world itself was scorched and burned, nothing lived within those miles. Animals, people, and plants were obliterated in an instant. Silumas then woke up.
He was in the desolation whatever had happened had left behind. He was no longer in his dark grey tunic and black pants, instead he was naked. Yet, he was not cold, or hot. He could feel the ground, understand the texture. He could smell the air, and understand that it was still dozens of degrees hotter than he should be able to live through, and yet here he was. His leg was in full working order as well, as he was standing. The beast and Wyren were gone, their bodies obliterated by the blast.
Silumas realized he was in the nude and how uncomfortable that made him, and suddenly, he had on his robes. Black and flowing, they were just as he remembered them from Ursan’s cabin. Shocked, he took a step and found his foot on a sharp, burning stone. It did not hurt him, physically, but the sensation still made him wish for his boots. A just like the robes, suddenly, his boots formed on his feet. Testing this new found abilities, he wished to have the dark grey tunic back and there it was. In desperation, he willed for Wyren to be back, and there was nothing. His powers had limits then. At least, for now. Maybe he could convince Ursan to help him.
Silumas began experimenting with the portal conjuring that Wyren had been casting with ease this last week. He found himself easily able to understand the flows and weavings of the elements now. His capabilities and talents had, somehow, grown exponentially, beyond anything he or Ursan had thought possible.
Ursan.
That bastard and his damned quest….he has taken everything from me.
He will pay.
Instinctually, he knew it would take far too long to portal back to Ursan for his taste. He needed vengeance, and he needed it now. So, Silumas learned to Walk. In the blink of an eye, Silumas traveled from his own material plane and found himself in the space between, the eerie blackness of space and time. It did not scare him, though, for somehow he understood that everything was here, and it would take him where he willed. In the next moment, he found himself at the edge of the clearing where Ursan’s cabin stood.
Silumas stalked to the door of the cabin and with a push of Earth and Air, the massive Steelbark door splintered in thousands of pieces leaving an exposed and drunken Ursan staring at the young Magus.
“What…what is going on here?” Ursan demanded
“Aww, Ursan, I’m hurt…” Silumas spat, “Don’t you recognize me? I have only been away a few days.”
“I warned you about this boy…” Ursan growled and summoned Death to him and willed it to the device that was no longer on Silumas’ head.
“Now…now..just wait a minute!” When the boy failed to rot away, instead stood their smiling malevolently, Ursan began to stammer.
Silumas stomped towards Ursan, picking him up by the throat and staring him in the eye, “No, I believe I am done waiting.”
The young Magus slammed Ursan to the floor and the old wizard began coughing violently, trying to squirm away. Silumas would not allow it though, holding him in place, his fingers digging viciously into the collarbone of Ursan.
“Do you remember your favorite way to torment me?” Silumas asked, his left hand dancing in front of Ursan’s wide eyes as Fire and Death began to coalesce. “Are you ready to learn your lesson?”
Silumas lowered his hand, slowly and careful onto Ursan’s stomach and the magic began to eat away at the wizard just as it did Silumas all those times before. Every minute or so once the layer he was on finished burning and rotting away, Silumas would push further in, his eyes staring gleefully into Ursan’s as the man moaned in pain, sick erupting into his mouth but Silumas kept him from spitting it out so that the man began to choke on his own vomit.
“You have taken everything from me, Ursan. In your pathetic quest for vengeance, Wyren was killed. You stole her from me. I cannot get her back…but I can eat you away. This will be quick, but unfortunately for you, it will be so horrendously painful it will seem to take and eternity.” Silumas then proceeded with rotting and burning the old wizard away for the next several minutes. It was the most painful, horrible way Silumas had ever killed someone, before and since. When it was finished, Silumas stood and spit on the corpse of the old man, he had a moment to understand what he done before he heard a small gasp from the door.
There stood Wyren.
Whatever had happened to Silumas, it was clear Wyren had experienced the same. He could feel the power emanating from her. While he was strong, she was strong. While he was powerful, she was even more so. Wyren had become godlike, perhaps even beyond the gods themselves.
“Silli….what have you done?” Wyren could barely speak.
“I…” Silumas tried to think of the answer, but there was nothing he could say to change what he had done. He could only play back that moment when he had promised her he would never be like Ursan.
“Just...just promise me you’ll never be like him,” Wyren said, her eyes tearing up.
“Never,” Silumas whispered.
“You’ve become him…” Wyren spoke softly, her eyes meeting his. He no longer saw love, and promise, and comfort. Her eyes were frightened, defensive, battle-ready even.
“Maybe…but you came back too…you wanted the same!” Silumas shot at her, trying, desperately, to find something to make this all ok.
“Silumas…” she said his name sadly, disappointment filling her heart, “I came here for you…looking for you.”
Silumas could not say anything, just falling to his knees, head in his palms. His shoulders shook with steady sobs as he realized what he had become. The rage, the anger, it was still there. No matter how he wanted it to go away, it stayed. He knew he could not rid it easily, and somehow, he knew Wyren knew the same.
“Silumas…” Wyren spoke gently as she laid a hand on his shoulder, he reached and grabbed it with desperation, just to have her touch a while longer. “You have to go.”
“Go?” Silumas asked through the wracking sobs and tears, “Where?”
“Anywhere…anywhere but here,” Wyren spoke, her voice filled with tears held back.
“Are…” the realization hit Silumas as he asked the question, “Are you coming with me?”
Wyren moved to stand behind Silumas and hold his shoulder firmly, gently, with understanding, “No…not while you are…” she gestured to the body before them, “like him.”
“I’m….I’m so sorry Wy…” Silumas spoke as he got control over himself.
“I know, Silli…I know.”
“Then, why can’t I stay?” Silumas asked indignantly, her demands not making sense to him.
“Because we can’t be together right now, Silumas,” she said, her voice forceful, her hands squeezing a little more forcefully.
Silumas spun out from under her, his form briefly leaving the material plane and appearing again a few feet away, standing now. His eyes held a cool, steely gaze, the tears only a memory as not even streaks remained on his cheeks as he reformed.
“That is foolishness, Wyren. We belong together. I am staying,” he said, pushing his head back and his arms moving out at his sides, all the Elements pooling into his form.
“Don’t make me hurt you, Silli, just go…” Wyren said, her voice becoming stern.
Silumas smirked and flung a bolt of Fire, much like the ones he used to throw at her when they would play in the woods. This bolt, however, was far more dangerous. A smith’s furnace could not compete with the heat of it, it caught the firewood ablaze without ever nearing it. Wyren caught the bold in her hand, absorbing the heat within a pool of Water in her own palm. She leapt over to Silumas, catching him by surprise, she dug her fingernails into his neck, pinning him in place through pain.
“This…Silumas, this is why you must leave,” Wyren spoke, firmly but with a kindness.
“NEVER!” Silumas screamed and spun away from her grip, his body temporarily becoming incorporeal.
She followed, both of the dancing in and out of reality, flinging spells and attacks at one another. This lasted for days, as they lost track of time. Wyren’s might won out, and soon Silumas found himself on the defensive. He was no longer able to fling attacks of his own, doing everything he could to keep her from destroying him. Soon, however, he made a mistake and she caught him with a blast of ice, made from enough Air and Water, to flash-freeze a lake. Back into reality he bounded slamming with enough force to break through the Steelbark wall of the cabin and into a nearby tree.
Wyren followed and found him nearly unconscious from the blow. His head lolled side to side as his mind fought to take control of his physical form and get it moving again, or at least fade out so he could prepare to attack again. She walked to him, her form graceful, and he remembered how much he adored her. Her kindness, her gentle touch, her talent for the Elements, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Finally, he stopped fighting it. His wrestled control of that anger, that rage, long enough to just enjoy seeing her again. Seeing her for the last time.
“Silli…I love you, but you cannot be trusted here…not while you feel that hatred within you…” Wyren knelt beside him and laid a hand on his cheek, cupping his face so he could look up at her.
“I….” Silumas spoke through the dizziness, the pain, “I love you, too Wy.”
“You know you need to leave?” Wyren spoke, not really a question, just a reaffirmation of why she was doing what she was doing.
Silumas could not really speak, only nod slightly within her grasp.
“When you have beaten your demons…when you are not filled with rage, then we can be together again. You will want to come back, you will fight for it, and you will hate me for this, but you must leave, and I cannot allow you to remember where we are,” she took her free hand and slowly pushed her index finger through his temple, entering his mind.
There, she took his memories of where this place was, where this plane of existence stood in the cosmic geography, and then with a final kiss on the forehead, she threw him from the plane.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Six Millennia Later
Silumas sat in the chair in front of Thyra’s desk, his head slumped to one side, eyes closed. Behind him stood a shorter woman, blond hair flowing down around her. She wore a flowy golden tunic, adorned with gemstones and magical artifacts of power rarely seen on Earth, or most places for that matter. Her pants were a leathery material that were form-fitting, flattering, but not too revealing. She held Silumas’ head in one hand, which any person that could view magic could see was what was keeping him unconscious.
She finished speaking, telling this story, and gave a warm smile to Thyra.
“He needs this, Thyra Russell. This school that you have built, it could be his redemption. Without this, I do not see how he can do what he has been trying to do for the last six-thousand years: Come home. Can you do this for him, Thyra? Can you help him to come home?” Wyren spoke softly, but urgently. Her voice had the tone of a plea.
Thyra began to object with concerns about the student’s safety and Wyren cut her off.
“I give you this vow, Thyra Russell of Earth, Silumas will bring no harm to any of your students or to any Good creature on this plane while he is a teacher at your school. You have my word,” swore Wyren with a steadiness and a confidence that said she had every intention of following through.
Thyra, bewildered by all of this, simply nodded in agreement, saying Silumas could teach at the Terminer Academy for Exception Youth.
“Very good, I hope you will not regret your decision, Thyra. Thank you for your help on this. When he finally understands what you have done for him, I am sure you will see his gratitude,” Wyren bowed her head with respect and then knelt beside Silumas’ side, placing her forehead on his shoulder.
“Please hurry, Silli…” she said softly, tears falling down her cheeks, “I miss you.”
Wyren placed a soft kiss on his cheek, whispering, “I love you.”
The most powerful Magus known then walked to the back of Thyra’s office. She turned a final time and gave Thyra a reassuring smile, and as she turned back a vibrant light-blue portal appeared and Wyren stepped through.
As soon as she was gone, Silumas awoke with a start. He saw Thyra staring behind him, and felt warmth on his cheek. His gaze shot to the back of the office, where nothing looked out of the ordinary.
“Are you well, Superintendent?” Silumas asked, bewildered by her stare to just behind him, “As I was saying, I believe you will find me a more than capable teacher for this academy of yours. And I know, I know, you worry for your student’s safety with someone with my…history on this world. I can swear this to you: I will bring no harm to any of your students or to any Good creature on this plane while I am a teacher at your school. What say you then, Madam Superintendent? May I teach?”
That was the only thought the young Magus could think while the two of them sat by the waterfall, enjoying an evening meal. Silumas was thinking of Wyren, the girl he’d been training with for the last fourteen years. She was his quintessential opposite. Where he was tall, she was barely over five feet. Where he was portly, she was lithe. Where he kept his raven black hair neatly groomed and trimmed, her blond locks were always wild and unkempt. Her skin was pale, an alabaster that drunk in the sun while his held an exotic olive-tint. In fact, they were diametrically opposed in almost every way save for the affection they shared for each other, and their age just into their teens.
The two of them, Wyren and Silumas, lived in a secluded valley full of lush forests, gentle rivers and streams, and the iconic one-hundred-foot waterfall at the White Cliffs. The cliffs were so named due to the chalky rock face extending for miles both north and south. It provided a significant amount of seclusion for the two young loves when they could get away from their training. The waters of the fall were crystal clear, and the sounds of the thunderous aquatic collision provided a perfect background for an afternoon nap or the giggling of puppy love.
Wyren and Silumas’ lives had been abnormally difficult ones. Ever since either of them could remember, they had had only each other to rely on during the strenuous, painful lessons taught to them by Ursan. They were obviously unrelated, but had been raised together in the secluded valley for the last fifteen years knowing only one another and their master, Ursan. He was a vicious, old sorcerer bent on revenge against the creature that killed his wife twenty years ago. At least, that was what the two of them had surmised over their lives based on his rantings and ravings they had heard. They also knew that Ursan was the closest thing they would ever get to a parent, as he had created them.
Wyren and Silumas were magical constructs. Built using machinery they only ever remember seeing once. They were about as foreign and alien from everything around them as could be. They drew breath, ate food, drank water, and as Silumas could attest from his yearly colds, they even got sick. Yet, Wyren and he had never been born from a fleshly womb. They were conceived from the will and skill of a man bent on revenge, not the love of a couple.
The sun was setting above the falls adding a majestic, prismatic gleam to the water and not a small amount of romance. Wyren and Silumas sat together upon a small outcropping of rock above the deep blue pond. They faced the falls, arms intertwined, and Wyren’s head rested on Silumas’ shoulder. Silumas wore his drab, black robes given to him by Ursan though the cowl remained down as Wyren repeatedly requested. She wore a sunflower yellow tunic, tight black pants, and her golden hair loosely bunched into a pony tail.
The young romance between these two was not very physical, the closeness they held now was about as significant as it got. Instead, it was shared trauma, loneliness, and friendship that drew them together. The bond they shared ran deeper than any blood relationship, than any relationship defined by sex or lust. Wyren loved Silumas, and he very much loved her.
They had snuck away earlier in the day when Ursan had fallen asleep from an abundance of wine. They had spent the day laughing, joking, and playing games with the magic they had learned. Silumas would throw a bolt of Fire towards Wyren who would masterfully counter with a wave of Water. Silumas would combine Earth and Life, creating tiny soldiers of twigs and sticks that would march dutifully towards Wyren to wrestle her to the ground while he tickled her feet. Wyren, escaping after fits of giggles, bound Air and Water together and using a very skilled throwing arm bounced the glob of icy water off the ground and up into Silumas’ robes, soaking his underpants with a cold that both stung and shocked. His gasp for her caused her to laugh harder than any of his tickles had. Then, they found their favorite spot in front of the grand waterfall.
They had watched the falls for hours now, with Ursan in one of his drunken stupors they had been able to sneak out. Silumas’ mind, ever the obedient studious one, kept wandering back to the treatises they were to be writing regarding the mingling of Fire and Earth and its effect on tectonic activity in a world could be felt even through the tiniest vibration. He knew that magma was the purest form in the physical plane of the expression of Fire and Earth together, becoming lava when Air gathered into the mix. What he had been trying to write involved how to keep magma from becoming lava when it reached the surface to be used as a weapon against…
She smells like blueberries…
He was studious, not stupid. When a pretty girl snuggled with you, that is to what you paid attention. Wyren snuggled in closer, her breathing shallow and slow, and he realized she had fallen asleep. He brushed a small blonde lock from her face and behind her ear when he gave a great, loud yawn. Wyren blinked awake slowly and gave Silumas a gentle smile, a yawn forming on her lips as well. She stretched wide and looked to the sky, watching the four moons dance in the sky.
“Silli...Silli...oh no, its gotten dark and we aren’t at home!” Wyren exclaimed, shooting to her feet and gathering their bags full of fruits and vegetables, with a bit of salted pork for Silumas, they had brought for their meal. They had hardly touched it. Wyren took off running back through the forest towards the small cabin the three of them had called home.
Silumas grew wide-eyed, his mouth turning dry almost instantly. Ursan had been drunken and passed out before lunch, he had surely woken since then. When he did awake, and discovered them gone, he would have flown into a rage. They would be lucky to live through the night, let alone escape his torments. The young Magus stood, grabbed what simple things Wyren had not, and took off after her.
The job back did not take long, perhaps a quarter of an hour had passed before the cabin came in sight. The nearest town was more than a day’s journey north into a Midland kingdom, so the journey was through darkness and the twisting woods of the Steelbark Forest. Normally, the elven races that called this place home would have turned out Ursan and his creations when they first arrived, but even they kept their distance from the maddened wizard.
The cabin was a two story, finely crafted abode. Its timber all from the titular Steelbark trees which made it sturdier than any stone, and large enough to house a few bedrooms in addition to the kitchen and common room. Each room had a couple windows, with slats of Steelbark to shutter them in the case of inclement weather or attack. The gray of the wood cloaked the house in shadow and mystery at night, but was a fitting contrast to the smoky, dark bark of the trees and emerald green flora that surrounded their home.
No smoke wafted from any of the chimneys which was an omen that filled the duo with dread. It was their duty to keep the fires lit and Wyren had already missed the time to serve dinner at a reasonable hour. Silumas caught up to Wyren, almost bowling her over, as she had slowed to a light-footed walk to keep their presence hidden for a bit longer.
They both froze with baited breath as they listened for some sign of the angry sorcerer within throwing a fit because his protégé had not done as they were told and stayed to tend the home and their studies. They heard not a peep from the house, just the gentle droning of the local nocturnal fauna, the soft rustling of the breeze through the Steelbark leaves, and..
Snoring.
Ursan was still sleeping. The two looked at each other with a smirk and crept slowly back to the house. Ursan was still passed out in the common room, face down on the cushions of the masterly crafted armchair he sat in most days, staring at the window into the eastern mountains, when he wasn’t yelling at them, hitting them, or worse. Softly, silently, carefully the two of them started to put things in order through the house. Silumas lit the large fireplace in the common room, slowly stoking it to full blaze so as to not wake their Master. He also got the wood burning in the large cast iron stove Wyren used to fix their meals. Wyren in the meantime put their books and quills, with some scribbled on parchment in their rooms to make it look like they were studying as they were supposed to, and once the oven was lit she began to cook a venison stew that filled the house with an aroma even a king would be impressed by.
The smell slowly roused the drunken wizard and his awakening groans as he stretched his large arms that were as big around as Silumas’ entire body. Ursan was a large man, in every sense of the word. The common folk who had dared speak with the children had jokingly said that Ursan’s mother knew what he would look like because she named him after a bear. Built like a barrel, with arms that seems more akin to driving hammer to anvil than casting spells, Ursan was an intimidating sight. His face was thick was a dark red beard, covering a face most would think were friendly until he curled his mouth up in a sneer, and burned them to ash with a flick of a meaty wrist.
“Smells good, lass…” the wizard slurred, still drunk apparently from the tankard of wine that fell off his chest as he stood, irreparably staining a book he had fallen asleep reading, “It’d better be edible this time…”
Wyren did not say a word, her eyes cast to the ground, as she sat Ursan’s bowl at the head of the small table. She fixed another for herself and one more for Silumas, bringing them both to the table, and sitting quietly. Silumas grimaced as he watched her lose the life and energy she had when they were away because of the monster with which they shared a home. Still, he was hungry simply because it smelled so good, and they sat to eat.
The meal passed without much conversation. Ursan grunted his approval after his first bite, quickly finished his bowl, and shoved it towards Wyren. She meekly stood, grabbed it, and fixed him another helping. This one, he ate slower, which allowed Silumas and Wyren to finish their meal. They waited, hands in their lap, while Ursan sloppily gulped down the remnants of his food. Wyren then stood, quiet as a mouse, and took his bowl to the sink to wash it.
“Girl, I wanted more,” Ursan growled, his voice dark. He was starting to sober up, which meant he was getting sullen and irritable.
“I...I’m sorry, I…” she stammered, and Ursan flew to his feet, his chair flying backwards and onto its side. The clattering made her jump.
“By the crows, it doesn’t matter now, does it? The bowl is filled with that filthy dish water. Did you clean the dishes today?” Ursan demanded, his eyes ablaze with unreasonable fury.
“I didn’t...I couldn’t...the studies kept me…” Wyren tried to stammer out an excuse.
Two steps and Ursan was beside her and the back of his hand collided with Wyren’s cheek sending her to the ground with an vicious crack. Silumas got to his feet then, his fists balled tightly, his knuckles whitening. Ursan’s punishments, warranted or not, usually involved a great deal of physical pain, and sometimes even a little magical. He was not a great wizard, in fact, their skills already outstripped his own, but he was bigger, meaner, and scarier. Silumas was beginning to understand that fact when he was able to make more complex weavings than what Ursan could demonstrate to them. The nasty tyrant they called a parent required Artifacts to assist in his magics, Artifacts like the machine that had created them, and he had destroyed years ago in his ineptness.
This event was not new to them, but Silumas’ reaction was certainly something new. Ursan was standing over Wyren, ready to belligerently berate some more for some slight or another, when he noticed his other pupil was standing a few feet away, fists shaking and tendrils of energy crackling off him like tiny, effervescent lightning bolts in all of the colors of magic: red, blue, green, amber, white, and black.
“What’s this then?” Ursan said, chuffing and taking a stride towards Silumas.
“Leave her alone,” was the only response he got from the teenager, his hands slowly opening and small balls of fire forming within them.
“Or?” Ursan asked, a mad glee entering his eyes.
“Silli...don’t….Ursan, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Please, just leave Silumas alone, I’ll do whatever you want,” Wyren pleaded, her eyes staring into Silumas, trying to tell him to stand down, to leave it alone, to tell him she was worried for him.
“I said,” Ursan said, before swinging his arm in an arc, his ham-sized fist barreling into Silumas’ temple, “OR?!”
Silumas launched the balls of flame in his hand as he hit the floor, toward Ursan’s face. The magic made the briefest contact before Ursan had waved his hand at the point of contact, a small bit of Water in his palm, negating the entire effect.
“Pathetic,” Ursan growled, spitting on his downed pupil.
“You may be more talented than I am, younglings, but I am vastly more experienced,” Ursan began a small combination of Fire and Death in his palm, and a sickly, sulfurous smell filled the room.
He knelt down beside Silumas and glared into the young Magus’ eyes. A sick grin grew across the wizard’s face as he pressed that palm into Silumas’ stomach. It melted the robes in a split second, and the pain was beyond anything Silumas had ever felt before. The magics in Ursan’s hand simultaneously burned and rotted his flesh. Silumas wretched to his right, his body entering shock from the severity of the excruciating pain emanating from the pus-filled sore on his stomach.
“Ursan...please...please stop,” Wyren was crying hysterically tugging on the wizard’s other arm, as he continued to press into Silumas’ flesh, an inch deep at this point.
“He needs to learn his lesson, girl,” the evil gleam in Ursan’s eye softened, though, and he slowly pulled his hand away from Silumas’ chest.
Blood, pus, rotting flesh oozed from Silumas’ torso and he lay there, involuntary screams erupting with every breath as each movement caused him greater and greater pain. With Ursan releasing him, all Silumas could do was roll to his right to keep himself from drowning in his own vomit. Tears streamed down his cheeks, mixing with the snot, blood, and sick his cheek now rested in.
“Clean him up,” Ursan growled before walking away, to his own quarters in the back of the cabin.
As soon as the wizard was out of sight, Wyren rushed to Silumas side and began working magic of her own. She summoned a combination of Air and Water, not unlike the prank she had played on Silumas before, creating a malleable, formable, gel-like material that was cold to the touch. She laid that on Silumas’ head to help with the fever he now had from the mortal wound in his stomach. She then summoned thin strands of Life and began working on his wounds, stitching it as a normal healer might with thread. This encouraged his body to heal much more rapidly than it would otherwise, and soon all that remained of the gaping hole in his torso was a badly burned, bright pink scar. She combined the Life strands together to form a small woven and began dabbing at the scar and with each dab the wound healed more and more, until it was almost as if nothing had happened. All that remained was the mixture of foul fluids on the floorboards and his face.
Silumas sighed with relief as the pain was lessened, but he found it hard to even open his eyes. Healing, especially that much healing, took a lot of energy from the individual being healed. A normal human, maybe even an elf, would have found the process too demanding and perished then and there from pure exhaustion. Silumas was no mortal, however, and Wyren was no normal healer. Where Silumas was skilled in the arts of combat magic and dealing death, Wyren had an innate understanding of healing and defense.
She smiled as she see him blink slowly, knowing what she had done had restored him, if worn him out. A bit of Water and she had his face and the floorboards cleaned, and despite her thin frame, she helped Silumas to his feet and assisted him as they walked back to their room. It took them a few minutes to make the short journey, as Silumas could barely stand. As she helped him lay back in his bed, she sat beside him and gave him a light kiss.
“Thank you, Silli,” she whispered, “even though that was stupid, idiotic, and could have gotten you killed...Thank you.”
“I would do anything for you, Wy….” Silumas spoke in painful wheezes. Despite the healing, it would take rest for his body to fully recuperate.
“Just...just promise me you’ll never be like him,” Wyren said, her eyes tearing up.
“Never,” Silumas whispered, his body finally too tired to keep him conscious. He drifted to sleep quickly after that.
Wyren leaned over and kissed Silumas’ forehead before changing to her night clothes and sliding into her bed across the room.
“You had best keep that promise, Silli. I’m holding you to it,” she said before closing her eyes and drifting into sleep herself.
Weeks would continue like this, the pair studying, learning, growing. Ursan would ‘teach’ them, and they would have to patch each other up with harsh words from the wizard. Silumas and Wyren only understood this life, but something was stirring within them both. They snuck out more, going to spar and train with one another, something they were not allowed to do at the cabin. Silumas began to try to defend Wyren more, despite the excruciating lesson Ursan tried and kept trying to teach him. Each time, Ursan would beat him through some clever tactic or another, and each time Silumas would end up on the receiving end of a very harsh experiment in torture. Then, one morning, the pair awoke after a long night of healing one another’s deep gashes and wounds, they discovered they were alone.
Ursan was gone, and was nowhere to be found. The pair assumed he had left for town to buy up some supplies in exchange for the goods he created from his magics. Crafting from Steelbark was almost impossible without master crafted tools from the elves, and the few humans that lived on the border of the forest had no such tools, and never would if the elves had anything to say about it. The trip was a regular one for the wizard, but the pair had always been brought along. This time, it would seem, they would be left to tend to their studies and the cabin while Ursan was away.
The two of them spent their time continuing to spar and improve their skills, and without the constant beating and berating from the tyrant Ursan, they enhanced their skills swiftly. Silumas became masterful with his control over Fire and Earth, and through very painful experience, was beginning to master the use of Death as well. Wyren already masterful with Life, was quickly becoming unparalleled in her ability with Water and Air.
Silumas could turn a flowing river to molten lava with his magic, and Wyren could change it back, as they had discovered accidentally a few days into their solitude. Silumas could wilt plants for yards in every direction with his control of Death, and Wyren could bring them back to full bloom with Life, stronger and more vibrant than ever. Days passed by in this pattern with no sign of Ursan. With winter settling in, Silumas kept the fires going without any need for wood or fuel, and Wyren kept them fed with delectable treats she grew in minutes from nothing. To her credit, what she was able to put together convinced Silumas to become a vegetarian like her.
Days ago, when Wyren had convinced him to help her prepare the meals, Silumas had wanted to use their powers to quicken the preparation and more-or-less instantly prepare their food. Wyren had said it took something from the flavor, and with a squeeze of his hand with hers, and a batting of her eyelashes, Silumas found himself in the kitchen. She was fixing a broiled savory vegetable she had dreamt up earlier in the day (and grown in the palm of her hand), while Silumas watched and stoically rotated grilling ears of corn, seasoned with garlic, spices, and a milky oil that tasted like butter. They did not say much while they cooked together, eyes changing from looking at one another with that twinkle of a deep, heart-felt love before returning to the food with an almost carnal hunger.
“Thank you for convincing me to do this the old fashion way, Wy,” Silumas smiled as they set the food on the table, then sat next to each other to enjoy their meal.
“I knew you’d figure out how right I was eventually,” Wyren said around a mouthful of vegetable, a smirk on her face, “just had to get it through that thick skull of yours.”
They chuckled for a moment before the door to the cabin slammed open, and in walked Ursan.
Why? Why couldn’t he just stay away forever?!
“The beast is back!” Ursan exclaimed between mouthfuls of food, and for the first time the pair of them saw the grumpy wizard with a smile on his face while he was sober.
“Finally have dinner ready on time, eh girl?” Ursan said, sauntering to the table and plopping himself on the chair opposite them, seeing no more food available, he reached over and took Silumas’ plate.
The two of them shared a quick glance and they began to get excited themselves. Years ago, Ursan had explained the purpose to their existence. They were created to destroy the beast in revenge for the creature killing Ursan’s family. He had had a wife and six children before the giant lizard-like beast had wandered into their village. The size of a castle itself, it was a force of nature unlike anything they had seen before. It had destroyed everything in a matter of moments, and no weapon could harm it. Nothing except Ursan’s magic. It wounded the creature, if the way a nail might harm a carpenter. He was not strong enough to destroy the thing, but it was warded off, if too late to save Ursan’s wife and children. He had promised them they would be free to do what they wished once the creature was destroyed.
“Where?” Silumas asked, his voice dry and to the point, giving no hint as to the excitement and dread he felt about facing the creature. If they won, they would be free to leave Ursan and seek out a life for themselves. But, if the creature was as powerful as Ursan had described, over and over and over, then it may not be so simple. They may be outmatched and could be killed themselves.
“Its to the East, just over the mountains. I saw it, if for only a moment! Tomorrow morning, the two of you are heading that way, and you’re going to kill it,” Ursan declared, nodded to himself, and dug into the plate of food he had taken from Silumas.
“As you wish, Ursan,” Wyren said, her face down, eyes staring at the floor, submissive.
“Good, now, go to bed, you have a long journey ahead of you tomorrow,” Ursan ordered, and shooed them to their rooms, devouring both plates of food.
When the two reached their rooms and began dressing for bed, Silumas and Wyren were giddy and anxious at the same time.
“Do you think its as powerful as Ursan says?!”
“Can you believe it?! We might be free soon!”
“I love you!” Silumas exclaimed, and grew shocked, swallowing hard. His arms frozen above his head from the excitement, and now he just simply could not move them.
Wyren stood there with all excitement, anxiety fading away into confusion. For a moment.
“Silumas, I love you too,” she said before planting a kiss on his lips.
The young Magus held his arms above his head for a moment with her lips pressed to his, eyes even wider than they were a moment ago. He stayed like that for what seemed an eternity before he finally understood what was going on, his dream was coming true. Wyren, the woman that was everything he was not, the person who had been with him through the worst life had to offer, his soulmate, had said she loved him. The fact she had said it in response to him accidentally blurting it out was irrelevant. Wyren was Silumas’, and has been for so many years now, Silumas was Wyren’s. They fell asleep together that night, Silumas holding Wyren close, and had the best night of sleep they had ever had.
The next morning, the two awoke before the dawn, grinning and giddy. They packed slowly and carefully, trying not to wake Ursan who would be sleeping in his quarters for a few more hours yet. Wyren packed a few essentials, a change of clothes, a couple meals, and then told Silumas they were ready to go. Silumas gave her a funny look, but didn’t argue, and followed her outside. Outside, and straight into the path of Ursan.
The burly wizard sat outside the door, smoking his pipe and not a bottle of wine or booze was to be found anywhere. Wyren had frozen when she saw him, and Silumas almost ran her over on his way out the door. Ursan glanced to the pair and his eyes narrowed.
“Good, getting an early start,” Ursan said as he stood and went behind the two of them, and swiftly placed his hands on the backs of the head and they felt a sharp pinch.
Gasping they reached their hands back to feel a kind of device attached to their skulls with eight sharp spines. It was shaped like a spider with a dark black onyx gem affixed in the thorax. Silumas turned and began to summon Fire to his palms in anger.
“Now, boy,” Ursan said with a grin, “you have definitely been getting stronger, stronger than I can control soon I believe.” The wizard’s speech seemed different, more articulate. Ursan sober was not something they were used to seeing. “So, I needed to reassure myself that the two of you would fulfill your purpose and not just run off.”
“What…what is this?” Wyren asked, grasping at the spines and trying to pry it away, to no avail.
Silumas, tried strengthening himself with Earth and rapidly healing the spots where the device was attached with Life but could make no difference, it would not budge.
“That, girl, will kill you should I send Death to it. Your life is in my hands,” Ursan nodded, and then grimaced, his sober self not as comfortable with what he was doing as they would have thought, “so please, don’t give me a reason to use it. Kill the beast, come back, and I will remove it, as only I can. You have three months. It will take you one to travel there, one to travel back, that gives you another to do with as you will. If you do not come back within those three months, it will destroy you. Understood?”
Silumas was enraged.
How could he do this? I will obliterate him where he stands!
“And, in case you are thinking what I believe you to be thinking, boy,” Ursan scowled, “the timer is already set. Death with consume you in three months if I do not remove the device. So, if you kill me, you doom yourself…and your little lady.”
Silumas could not bear to stand their much long with the smug look on Ursan’s face. Instead, he grabbed Wyren by the wrist and began the trek north to the village where they would be on the road to travel through whatever pass would take them through the mountain and to the beast. Wyren stumbled along behind him, still in a bit of shock at what had just transpired. After they had traveled an hour she pulled Silumas to a stop.
“Silli…wait, I’m tired,” she complained, sitting on a log. She was dressed in a tight yellow tunic, belted at the waist with dark brown leather. On her back was the backpack she had packed their meager supplies, and her loose black trousers and knee-high boots completed her ensemble. Silumas was dressed out of his robes today, a rarity for him. Instead, he wore a loose gray tunic, also belted in dark leather, with similar black trousers and boots.
“You heard him, Wy. We don’t have time to rest. We have to get there and back within the season, or his blasted traps will eat us away!” Silumas exclaimed, not so much upset with her as with the situation, but still his tone held something undesirable.
“I have a secret…” Wyren said mischievously, ignoring the darkness in his voice.
Silumas narrowed his eyes in suspicion, “What is it?”
“I learned something new last week. I’ve been waiting on the right time to show you. Our trip won’t take us nearly so long…” Wyren said, turning to face the mountains to the east. “Follow me!”
With that the young lady Magus took off at a sprint, heading to the east, suddenly forgetting how tired she was. Silumas grinned, despite everything, she still had the heart to play games and enjoy herself. She put the gladness back in his heart and he took off after her. In a few minutes of playing cat-and-mouse through the Steelbark Woods, they found themselves on an outcropping with a fantastic view of the mountains. Wyren stopped at the edge of the cliff and stared at one mountain in particular.
“What are you doing?” Silumas asked curiously, he had never seen this magic before.
“With a combination of Air and Life, and a lot of finesse, I can create a kind of doorway that will take as to that mountain in a single step…I think,” Wyren said, her voice a bit shaky at the end.
“You think?” Silumas asked incredulously, “Have you even done this before?”
“Yeah, but it was just a few dozen feet before. This is going to be tough, but I think I can do it,” Wyren said, confidence reentering her voice. She finished with a nod and looked to Silumas, simultaneously expecting approval and acceptance of her decision.
“I…I don’t…Ok, Wy,” Silumas said with a nod and a grimace, “We do it your way. Just…try not to kill us, ok?”
Wyren grinned and began weaving an intricate threading of Life and Air in front of her the patterns becoming more and more complex until finally the portal sprang into being. The edges were a vibrant blue, light in color almost like ice. Inside was something Silumas did not even realize was possible. He saw the peak of the mountain beyond as if he were standing there. Snow blew in swirls from the gusty wind at the top of the mountain, and he could see the individual snowflakes billowing around. Wyren squeed in excitement upon seeing the completed portal, gave a proud glance back to Silumas, and took the step off the cliff. She went through the gateway of the portal and found herself on the peak of the mountain. Silumas could see her through it and she waved him forward.
Taking a very deep breath, Silumas took that step forward off the cliff. His boot crunched through the freshly fallen snow, and he found himself on the peak with Wyren. It was truly astonishing. One moment, they were in the brisk chill of the late autumn Steelbark, and now they stood on peak of one of the mountains in the World’s Fold range, a hundred miles away. Silumas just stared at Wyren in disbelief. Silumas was perhaps the most technically proficient sorcerer in the world, able to perform feats with a breath that wizards could take decades to even learn. Yet, he would never have the sheer power Wyren did with magic, the natural talent.
By the gods…she is beautiful.
Wyren smiled humbly, yet he could see the pride her eyes. Silumas was speechless, only reaching out to her and pulling her into an embrace. The incredibly stark mountain air allowed his nose to pick up every scent of her hair, her skin, and the soap she had used to bathe with the night before. They were together, Ursan was a hundred miles away, and the entire world was at their fingertips. In that moment, on top the mountain, Silumas was the happiest he had ever been.
“Come on, Sili, lets hunt that thing down, then spend a couple months holding each other,” Wyren said, staring up into Silumas’ eyes, “What do ya say?”
Silumas grinned, “Sounds like one of the heavens.”
Wyren stared to the east and saw the arid landscape that awaited them. The World’s Fold kept the moist air from the westerly oceans from reaching this part of the world, so rainfall was sparse. It was a dry, rocky region that was not going to be a lot of fun to trudge through. Lucky for them, then, that Wyren had learned to make a portal.
They spent the better part of a week jumping dozens and dozens of miles before they finally caught up to the creature. The beast was massive, bigger than the village Silumas and Wyren had visited, bigger than most hills they had seen. It had the stature of a lizard, with spines sticking out every which way, and its hide a dark, crackled brown. Its mouth could swallow their cabin whole, and one of its four legs would have no issue squashing a copse of Steelbark trees. Even from here, dozens of miles away on a cliff face, they would watch it roar and hear it moments later, still thunderous and shaking them to the core.
“Are you ready?” Silumas touched the small of Wyren’s back as he asked the question, and she felt certain he was steadying himself as much as her.
“As ready as I could be,” Wyren said ruefully, “No sense in holding this off…can’t really plan an attack on something like that, right?”
“You know me, Wy,” Silumas said with a grin, “I can plan for anything…but you’re right, most any plan would fall apart the minute that thing knows we are there.”
“Then, why wait?” Wyren said as she performed her casting of Life and Air, this time much quicker than the first she had done back in the forest. It took only a half-a-minute for her to complete the casting. The portal would take them just behind the beast as it walked, it none-the-wiser to its appearance. Wyren started to step through before Silumas grabbed her shoulder and shook his head slowly. Taking her place, Silumas walked through the gateway and appeared just behind the beast.
Before he even had time to think about, he summoned a massive amount of Air with a bit of Death and his hand crackled with the energy of a dozen thunderstorms. He flung his hand out and that lightning arced across the sky and collided with the back of the beast, scoring it along its right side for a dozen meters before Silumas’ energy finally ran out. The beast roared in pain and whipped its tail as it spun, colliding with Silumas and sending him sprawling hundreds of feet. He smacked into a rock outcropping and his breath knocked out of him, ribs cracking. He had accomplished his goal, however, as the beast was definitely focused on him, and ignored Wyren coming through the portal moments later.
Doing as he had been taught by Ursan all these years, he gritted his teeth through the pain and got to his feet, fire building across his entire form. The beast, its massive jaws open wide, shot its head down to swallow up Silumas. The young Magus was too quick, however, the power of Fire and Air sending him speeding toward the creature’s front left leg. Forming the fire into a massive spinning, razor-thin disk, he hurled at the knee joint and heard the satisfying sizzle as the fire disk tore through the limb and severed it off completely.
The creature gave a massive yelp and reared onto its back legs, trying to fall back down on Silumas with its good leg. Silumas managed to roll out of the way, but just barely. His enhanced speed greatly lessened after that attack. It tried to stomp again and this time caught Silumas’ left leg under him. The leg crushed instantly, shattering beyond recognition and rendering the young Magus helpless. Silumas screamed with pain, but his eyes only flashed with anger. As the creature brought its foot back up to deliver a killing blow to his head, Silumas summoned an enormous amount of Earth into himself, strengthening his arms and right leg, he managed to catch the beast’s foot, preventing it from crushing the rest of him.
The beast growled in frustration and pressed harder, and Silumas’ strength quickly began to waver. Then, Wyren launched her own assault. She dove onto the muzzle of the massive creature, a great sword made of ice in her grip, she drove the blade deep, to the hilt, into the beast’s skull. It thrashed and thrashed, trying to shake off the blade driven right to its brain. All that served to do was scramble more and more of what was left of its brain matter. In moments the beast toppled down, nearly crushing Silumas with its head.
A few breaths later and the beast ceased moving. Silumas dragged himself away, Earth still keeping the pain from causing him to collapse, he knew soon Wyren would move to heal him like she always did. Sure enough, he saw Wyren hop off the beast and move to beside him.
“Well, now, you have got to be more careful, boy,” Wyren said in a mocking tone, imitating Ursan. She smiled and kissed Silumas on the forehead before summoning Life to her palm and getting to work on his legs. “We did it, Silli, we are free.”
Silumas laughed, which caused him to cough up a bit of blood, “That we are, Wy. I can’t believe we did it. I love you.”
Wyren continued to work as he talked, her eyes glistening with tears of joy, “Oh Silli….Silumas, I lo…”
Before he knew it, Silumas had lost the love of his life.
The beast had one last thrashing of life, one last chance at revenge, and it took it. Its head snapped over to Wyren, its teeth sinking deep into her torso. It shook its head violently, tearing Wyren apart and spreading pieces of her for yards around them, before its last bit of strength was expended and it collapsed to the ground.
Silumas screamed in horror, in pain, and he did not stop screaming. He refused to believe what happened, crawling his way to what remained of her torso, the head barely attached. He pulled her into his lap and sobbed, screaming words incomprehensible. For hours that was all he could, screaming until his voice went hoarse, and continuing to weep uncontrollably.
To Silumas, Wyren was what happy meant. She was Home. He could not bear the thought of living without her, she was everything to him. Then, Silumas remembered the device on the back of his head, the one Ursan had planted there. Silumas had sworn to himself he would make Ursan pay for what he had done to Wyren, to him, their entire lives. His eyes still watering, he sighed knowing he would not get to keep that oath. He reached back to the device, summoned every bit of strength he had left, from Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Life, and Death and he pulled. He felt a sickening snap, and then everything went black.
Around him, however, the world erupted in a light brighter than a thousand suns. Silumas, the beast, and Wyren were consumed in a blinding flash that was seen for dozens of miles in every direction. The world itself was scorched and burned, nothing lived within those miles. Animals, people, and plants were obliterated in an instant. Silumas then woke up.
He was in the desolation whatever had happened had left behind. He was no longer in his dark grey tunic and black pants, instead he was naked. Yet, he was not cold, or hot. He could feel the ground, understand the texture. He could smell the air, and understand that it was still dozens of degrees hotter than he should be able to live through, and yet here he was. His leg was in full working order as well, as he was standing. The beast and Wyren were gone, their bodies obliterated by the blast.
Silumas realized he was in the nude and how uncomfortable that made him, and suddenly, he had on his robes. Black and flowing, they were just as he remembered them from Ursan’s cabin. Shocked, he took a step and found his foot on a sharp, burning stone. It did not hurt him, physically, but the sensation still made him wish for his boots. A just like the robes, suddenly, his boots formed on his feet. Testing this new found abilities, he wished to have the dark grey tunic back and there it was. In desperation, he willed for Wyren to be back, and there was nothing. His powers had limits then. At least, for now. Maybe he could convince Ursan to help him.
Silumas began experimenting with the portal conjuring that Wyren had been casting with ease this last week. He found himself easily able to understand the flows and weavings of the elements now. His capabilities and talents had, somehow, grown exponentially, beyond anything he or Ursan had thought possible.
Ursan.
That bastard and his damned quest….he has taken everything from me.
He will pay.
Instinctually, he knew it would take far too long to portal back to Ursan for his taste. He needed vengeance, and he needed it now. So, Silumas learned to Walk. In the blink of an eye, Silumas traveled from his own material plane and found himself in the space between, the eerie blackness of space and time. It did not scare him, though, for somehow he understood that everything was here, and it would take him where he willed. In the next moment, he found himself at the edge of the clearing where Ursan’s cabin stood.
Silumas stalked to the door of the cabin and with a push of Earth and Air, the massive Steelbark door splintered in thousands of pieces leaving an exposed and drunken Ursan staring at the young Magus.
“What…what is going on here?” Ursan demanded
“Aww, Ursan, I’m hurt…” Silumas spat, “Don’t you recognize me? I have only been away a few days.”
“I warned you about this boy…” Ursan growled and summoned Death to him and willed it to the device that was no longer on Silumas’ head.
“Now…now..just wait a minute!” When the boy failed to rot away, instead stood their smiling malevolently, Ursan began to stammer.
Silumas stomped towards Ursan, picking him up by the throat and staring him in the eye, “No, I believe I am done waiting.”
The young Magus slammed Ursan to the floor and the old wizard began coughing violently, trying to squirm away. Silumas would not allow it though, holding him in place, his fingers digging viciously into the collarbone of Ursan.
“Do you remember your favorite way to torment me?” Silumas asked, his left hand dancing in front of Ursan’s wide eyes as Fire and Death began to coalesce. “Are you ready to learn your lesson?”
Silumas lowered his hand, slowly and careful onto Ursan’s stomach and the magic began to eat away at the wizard just as it did Silumas all those times before. Every minute or so once the layer he was on finished burning and rotting away, Silumas would push further in, his eyes staring gleefully into Ursan’s as the man moaned in pain, sick erupting into his mouth but Silumas kept him from spitting it out so that the man began to choke on his own vomit.
“You have taken everything from me, Ursan. In your pathetic quest for vengeance, Wyren was killed. You stole her from me. I cannot get her back…but I can eat you away. This will be quick, but unfortunately for you, it will be so horrendously painful it will seem to take and eternity.” Silumas then proceeded with rotting and burning the old wizard away for the next several minutes. It was the most painful, horrible way Silumas had ever killed someone, before and since. When it was finished, Silumas stood and spit on the corpse of the old man, he had a moment to understand what he done before he heard a small gasp from the door.
There stood Wyren.
Whatever had happened to Silumas, it was clear Wyren had experienced the same. He could feel the power emanating from her. While he was strong, she was strong. While he was powerful, she was even more so. Wyren had become godlike, perhaps even beyond the gods themselves.
“Silli….what have you done?” Wyren could barely speak.
“I…” Silumas tried to think of the answer, but there was nothing he could say to change what he had done. He could only play back that moment when he had promised her he would never be like Ursan.
“Just...just promise me you’ll never be like him,” Wyren said, her eyes tearing up.
“Never,” Silumas whispered.
“You’ve become him…” Wyren spoke softly, her eyes meeting his. He no longer saw love, and promise, and comfort. Her eyes were frightened, defensive, battle-ready even.
“Maybe…but you came back too…you wanted the same!” Silumas shot at her, trying, desperately, to find something to make this all ok.
“Silumas…” she said his name sadly, disappointment filling her heart, “I came here for you…looking for you.”
Silumas could not say anything, just falling to his knees, head in his palms. His shoulders shook with steady sobs as he realized what he had become. The rage, the anger, it was still there. No matter how he wanted it to go away, it stayed. He knew he could not rid it easily, and somehow, he knew Wyren knew the same.
“Silumas…” Wyren spoke gently as she laid a hand on his shoulder, he reached and grabbed it with desperation, just to have her touch a while longer. “You have to go.”
“Go?” Silumas asked through the wracking sobs and tears, “Where?”
“Anywhere…anywhere but here,” Wyren spoke, her voice filled with tears held back.
“Are…” the realization hit Silumas as he asked the question, “Are you coming with me?”
Wyren moved to stand behind Silumas and hold his shoulder firmly, gently, with understanding, “No…not while you are…” she gestured to the body before them, “like him.”
“I’m….I’m so sorry Wy…” Silumas spoke as he got control over himself.
“I know, Silli…I know.”
“Then, why can’t I stay?” Silumas asked indignantly, her demands not making sense to him.
“Because we can’t be together right now, Silumas,” she said, her voice forceful, her hands squeezing a little more forcefully.
Silumas spun out from under her, his form briefly leaving the material plane and appearing again a few feet away, standing now. His eyes held a cool, steely gaze, the tears only a memory as not even streaks remained on his cheeks as he reformed.
“That is foolishness, Wyren. We belong together. I am staying,” he said, pushing his head back and his arms moving out at his sides, all the Elements pooling into his form.
“Don’t make me hurt you, Silli, just go…” Wyren said, her voice becoming stern.
Silumas smirked and flung a bolt of Fire, much like the ones he used to throw at her when they would play in the woods. This bolt, however, was far more dangerous. A smith’s furnace could not compete with the heat of it, it caught the firewood ablaze without ever nearing it. Wyren caught the bold in her hand, absorbing the heat within a pool of Water in her own palm. She leapt over to Silumas, catching him by surprise, she dug her fingernails into his neck, pinning him in place through pain.
“This…Silumas, this is why you must leave,” Wyren spoke, firmly but with a kindness.
“NEVER!” Silumas screamed and spun away from her grip, his body temporarily becoming incorporeal.
She followed, both of the dancing in and out of reality, flinging spells and attacks at one another. This lasted for days, as they lost track of time. Wyren’s might won out, and soon Silumas found himself on the defensive. He was no longer able to fling attacks of his own, doing everything he could to keep her from destroying him. Soon, however, he made a mistake and she caught him with a blast of ice, made from enough Air and Water, to flash-freeze a lake. Back into reality he bounded slamming with enough force to break through the Steelbark wall of the cabin and into a nearby tree.
Wyren followed and found him nearly unconscious from the blow. His head lolled side to side as his mind fought to take control of his physical form and get it moving again, or at least fade out so he could prepare to attack again. She walked to him, her form graceful, and he remembered how much he adored her. Her kindness, her gentle touch, her talent for the Elements, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Finally, he stopped fighting it. His wrestled control of that anger, that rage, long enough to just enjoy seeing her again. Seeing her for the last time.
“Silli…I love you, but you cannot be trusted here…not while you feel that hatred within you…” Wyren knelt beside him and laid a hand on his cheek, cupping his face so he could look up at her.
“I….” Silumas spoke through the dizziness, the pain, “I love you, too Wy.”
“You know you need to leave?” Wyren spoke, not really a question, just a reaffirmation of why she was doing what she was doing.
Silumas could not really speak, only nod slightly within her grasp.
“When you have beaten your demons…when you are not filled with rage, then we can be together again. You will want to come back, you will fight for it, and you will hate me for this, but you must leave, and I cannot allow you to remember where we are,” she took her free hand and slowly pushed her index finger through his temple, entering his mind.
There, she took his memories of where this place was, where this plane of existence stood in the cosmic geography, and then with a final kiss on the forehead, she threw him from the plane.
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Six Millennia Later
Silumas sat in the chair in front of Thyra’s desk, his head slumped to one side, eyes closed. Behind him stood a shorter woman, blond hair flowing down around her. She wore a flowy golden tunic, adorned with gemstones and magical artifacts of power rarely seen on Earth, or most places for that matter. Her pants were a leathery material that were form-fitting, flattering, but not too revealing. She held Silumas’ head in one hand, which any person that could view magic could see was what was keeping him unconscious.
She finished speaking, telling this story, and gave a warm smile to Thyra.
“He needs this, Thyra Russell. This school that you have built, it could be his redemption. Without this, I do not see how he can do what he has been trying to do for the last six-thousand years: Come home. Can you do this for him, Thyra? Can you help him to come home?” Wyren spoke softly, but urgently. Her voice had the tone of a plea.
Thyra began to object with concerns about the student’s safety and Wyren cut her off.
“I give you this vow, Thyra Russell of Earth, Silumas will bring no harm to any of your students or to any Good creature on this plane while he is a teacher at your school. You have my word,” swore Wyren with a steadiness and a confidence that said she had every intention of following through.
Thyra, bewildered by all of this, simply nodded in agreement, saying Silumas could teach at the Terminer Academy for Exception Youth.
“Very good, I hope you will not regret your decision, Thyra. Thank you for your help on this. When he finally understands what you have done for him, I am sure you will see his gratitude,” Wyren bowed her head with respect and then knelt beside Silumas’ side, placing her forehead on his shoulder.
“Please hurry, Silli…” she said softly, tears falling down her cheeks, “I miss you.”
Wyren placed a soft kiss on his cheek, whispering, “I love you.”
The most powerful Magus known then walked to the back of Thyra’s office. She turned a final time and gave Thyra a reassuring smile, and as she turned back a vibrant light-blue portal appeared and Wyren stepped through.
As soon as she was gone, Silumas awoke with a start. He saw Thyra staring behind him, and felt warmth on his cheek. His gaze shot to the back of the office, where nothing looked out of the ordinary.
“Are you well, Superintendent?” Silumas asked, bewildered by her stare to just behind him, “As I was saying, I believe you will find me a more than capable teacher for this academy of yours. And I know, I know, you worry for your student’s safety with someone with my…history on this world. I can swear this to you: I will bring no harm to any of your students or to any Good creature on this plane while I am a teacher at your school. What say you then, Madam Superintendent? May I teach?”