"So now you have overcome your fear," Avalt said, looking down at me lying on the forest grounds. "Let us step in knowing what your unique powers are, and what you will be training on today is the control of basic magic. Many mages and even demons and witches tend to skip this phase, but in your case, you have to build the foundation even if you feel like you don't need it.
"What is that supposed to imply? I asked him.
He lands smoothly on the ground from the branch of the tree. Positioning himself and stretching his arms, the wind around him started moving according to the movement of his hands. And then within a millisecond, there was an explosion as if a lightning bolt had fallen from the sky.... boom, its intensity was sharp at first, then faded into a low rolling growl that shook the forest and rattled the calm afternoon breeze.
Soon after, the scent of burning wood filled the air.
"Well... that was fast, " I commented.
"Yes, this is a small demonstration of precision in fire control. Fire may be a dangerous element but just like any other element around. Better control of it can be an unraveled and formidable weapon.
"Before you do this, note that you are only applying the power the rift bestowed on you. Keep your demon abilities away. We will test through this what element(s) you can wield.
I readied myself and aimed at the tree closest to me. I can feel the mark burning underneath my sleeves pulsing softly like a second heartbeat.
I lowered my hand towards the tree focusing on every breath of spirit energy in the surrounding, and picturing a tree engulfed in flames in my mind's eye, I directed it precisely onto it, I intended on burning it fast and accurately like how I saw Mr Avalt accomplishing it.
But the mark had a plan of its own. It flared up, crawling under my skin like hot molten magma rushing through my veins rapidly.
My vision blurred. The ground beneath my feet trembled vigorously.
"Control it, Prince Iael," Avalt snapped in urgency, "a second wasted, and everything will end up in shambles," he warned again.
"I am trying," I shouted back at him, feeling an unknown anger welling up inside of me, not knowing to whom it was directed to either to myself or Sir Avalt.
"Then I heard it, a silent whisper, resounding like an aged gong ." Burn," it echoed through my skull. Then I realized what it was. The power from the drape itself has taken form either inside of me or around me and is connecting with me through the pact we have made. And now I can hear its voice in my mind. I was confused and terrified by the thought of another being residing in my body with the threat of taking over. My resolve nearly crumbled.
That will not be me, Iael. My worst nemesis is being controlled. No one has that audacity over me, may it be an ancient and powerful creature. I bow to no one.
"Stop!!" I rebuked it through the mind link we share."You do not control me!" Flames erupted, not from the ground, nor was it from the air. It was from me.
Violet fire burst from my fingertips, swirling around my arm like a living serpent of flames. Now spreading with a speed not noticeable by human eyes all around me from the tip of my hair to the soles of my feet.
Sir Avalt gasped in wonder and hurriedly created a shield to protect himself from the heat of the burning flames.
The flames climbed higher, hungry and hot, but they did not burn me, nor did they burn anything as if it was waiting for something.
"Use me," the voice whispered, "or I will find another."
I laughed hysterically. "Do you really think you can threaten me with that? You pathetic creature, you have been waiting for thousands of years, and I freed you. So you don't get to order me around or deem me as a mere vessel. I control you, " I told him fiercely.
"We are doing this on my own terms, so save your bickering." I made my point boldly.
I took a deep, calming breath, feeling my body becoming lighter and blending with the flow of the wind.
I could now feel its raw endless power, my heart pounding. It feels like I am holding a storm in my palm that needs a release. So I clenched my fist and unleashed it.
The flame shot forward in a violet wave with a small shade of red, like hellfire, exploding through the forest in a sonic boom of harsh and hot purple light.
Trunks of gigantic trees cracked, smoke hissed, and glowing embers drifted upward like dying stars.
The flame vanished as if being put out by someone after blazing and eating everything up that was left of the forest. The once evergreen rich forests of the stans now reduce to a heap of ashes.
Avalt stared at me in awe. "This is no curse fire. It is a rift flame, and you were scared of it. Look at how beautifully you have manifested it." he applauded his smile, stretching wide on his face. With a suspicious glint in his eyes, he continued to say, "and I felt a subtle trace of hellfire. Do you have that ability too?
"That shouldn't concern you. All you are allowed to know is that I have control over the fire element now, and I have properly adhered to your training.
"Yes, you have done that, but I did not ask you to burn the entire forest," he smirked. "You have given this old man double work to take care of, should you not compensate me?
"Take it as a present for having the opportunity to train this special prince in the entire continent," I pointed to myself proudly. "That arrogant brat," Avalt said with a snort.
"Looking down at my hand, I reminisced about the surge of power I felt just a moment ago, my fingertips were still faintly smoking, trembling... not from pain but from how good I felt.
I have always felt the power of hellfire locked away within me. But I had never gotten the chance to unleash it, but right there, when I burnt the forest with the riftflame, I heard something snap within. It has been released from its shackles. And that excites me tremendously.
The voice inside my head commented proudly. "You are made for this." I ignored it and continued walking towards the villa
I saw Kevin lingering around the forest, unsure whether to come to where I was training or not.
"This worrywart friend of mine," I chuckled, and he turned abruptly and raked his eyes on me, checking to see if I was okay.
"I can control it now, and I didn't get hurt."
He patted my back and smiled in relief, "No" he said. "Now you can use it. Control comes naturally the moment you accept the power.
I held his gaze, seeing the concern and support in it, and warmth washed over me, making me feel calm and assured.
It was the final day. Drawing close to the seventh day before the group's departure to Lumeris.
On the training grounds;
Iael released the arrow surged with lightning energy, and it shattered the target emitting blinding embers as the aftermath.
Avalt nodded in satisfaction once more as he began explaining, " The precision has even exceeded my expectations. You really don't disappoint.
Ieal takes the burning hot arrow, which burns his palm, but he remains unaffected and asks Sir Avalt, "What will we do with this weapon?"
"It's for testing your resistance to pain, I know you have high resistance to pain, but the new addition to your soul should either advance or lower its standards. So push the arrow through your heart," he ordered.
I pushed the arrow through my chest while gritting my teeth to block a whimper that threatened to break off from my lips due to pain.
"Now release your hand." Avalt condensed the arrow with more magic twisting and pulling it in an excruciatingly slow manner.
Iael, seeing the wicked glint in the mage's gaze, knew that the man wouldn't go easy on this pain-resistant test. He stood his ground and blocked out any scream of pain.
Iael pulled the arrow pierced deep into his heart out, his body shaking, and it was visible that he was hurting, but he kept his cool composure and dropped the arrow on the ground. His wound is regenerating and closing up at the fastest rate that seems impossible for the mind of Serana to process.
"It looks like he has really become strong ." She commented, looking at Iael in awe.
"You were really impressive." She bumped her shoulder against mine and skipped ahead of me into the main courtyard.
I opened my eyes when the sun was slowly peaking above the horizon. Today marks the day of our departure to Lumeris.To say I am not looking forward to it would be a lie. Even Kevin's silence couldn't hide the interest in his eyes when we talked about Lumeris.
"The place we are headed has a dangerous forest to cross before getting to Lumeris. So we have to be prepared for any disturbance. We are going through this with no one getting hurt. " I informed them.
"Mage Avalt, we will be setting off at midnight. Please erase any tracks we might leave behind. I can't afford the risk of anyone in this kingdom following our tracks to find out about this. "
"Be at peace, your highness. I will oversee it till the end. " he bowed dutifully as if he was not the one who tortured me with training a day before.
The trio moved under the shadows of the night. Their speed was fast, flitting across without touching the ground.
The journey continued without a pause for rest till we came to the edge of the forest of entrapment at the break of dawn.
The trees were dense, and the vegetation abundant. The sun's rays from above were half shielded, and the damp smell of the earth mixed with the fragrance of grass wafted across our noses carried by the light breeze.
Maybe it was because we were still not deep into the forest. We had yet to chance on any beast or danger. I observed thoughtfully.
After about an hour of floating across the woods, we neared the heart of the forest, and as expected, the air felt quieter and eerier. Every one of us became more alert, scanning the area for any form of danger.
A sudden howl of wolves reached our ears, ringing through the woods, inciting fear in anyone with a weak heart.
Initially, I did not notice that someone was watching us, but as we got into the inner reaches of the woods. I suddenly felt it. A pair of eyes was trained on our movement, probing and assessing us but not with malicious intent. So I chose not to point it out. But I was wondering when that gaze started watching us, and how every one of us failed to notice it. There is only one possible theory for that, the person is in a higher rank in power compared to us.
Serena matched my pace and said, "I sense someone in the vicinity watching us. "
" Let him be since he chose not to reveal himself, we shouldn't expose him either," I said to her. "And he should probably be stronger than us or have high concealing magic because I couldn't feel his presence before."
"But we shouldn't let our guards down," Kevin warned, gripping his sword tightly. I nodded in approval to his words.
Carrying on with our journey, I heard a splashing sound like a waterfall. " I think there is a water source ahead. Let's pass by and fill our gourds. "
As I was squatting beside the shallow part of the water focusing on the task, I failed to notice a poisonous venomous snake slithering towards me.
As the snake neared widening its jaw to bite into my calf I felt its threatening presence so I prepared to burn it, when the sharp blade of a sword came slicing through it filling the entire area with a thick killing intent from Kevin.
Hiss! The snake let out a loud hiss, and it fell limp.
"OH? A silver-dotted snake? " The killing intent from just a moment ago vanished as if it never appeared. He wiped his blade and placed it back in its sheath.
"Always as fast as ever," Serena commented, smirking with a languid laziness.
"We can't afford anything happening to his highness." He responded to her obvious teasing.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you, the ever serious man in the entire Avagarth. " "Forget it guys let's proceed," I said. Standing up, I patted Kevin on the back "Thanks buddy " he smiled and shrugged it off.
When my eyes witnessed the scene before us, my straight brows furrowed into a frown. There, in the open space, lay the body of a young man buttered and all bloody. Lying there as if he were waiting to take his last breath. I summoned my powers and leaped off to his side.
"It looks like he is not breathing the rise, and fall of his chest is gone," I said, feeling a tad bit disappointed. Previously, I felt the immense power in him, although he was weak. That is why I decided to be a busybody and save him, but seeing his breath pause put me off a bit. I turned around from the body, positioning myself to leave when Serena's words stopped me.
"He has a pulse it is just very faint, but you can save him,"
Rings of purple light circled the man as I closed my eyes, focusing on his internal injuries, which seemed more severe than the one on his body, I channeled more light essence into him. After knowing that everything was fixed, I retracted my hand from his forehead. I stared at him, waiting for him to open his eyes. When he seemed to be taking his own sweet time, I sent a laser of light not that harsh through his heart to jolt him awake.
"Cough ... cough, a mouthful of black dead blood spewed out of his mouth and nose. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at me before smiling big and bright, which was abnormal for someone who nearly died to do unless he was faking it.
"Are you the one who saved me ?" I nodded in response to his question.
"Thank you so much for your kindness, and to express that gratitude and also keep myself safe, can I join your group?
" I saved you before for the sake of the potential I saw within you. There's nothing else attached to my help, so go your way and forget about this." I told him in a detached tone.
"No, but you can't save me and throw me through that ordeal again. I'm not that useless. You can let me handle anything relating to household care, and I won't disappoint you." He clamped to my arm like a sticky gum.
I scanned him over again and permitted him to follow.
He walked beside Kevin and started engaging in a one-sided conversation with him.
"You really are a busybody. As you said, now look at the kind of trouble you have bestowed on Kevin," she said and chuckled amusingly.
"I know right. Anyway, he will need it cause he is too uptight.