Threat of the Shadow Mage

SO THE TWO OF THEM WENT OUT TO THE VILLAGE AFTER BREAKFAST and found Aspen a lovely garment for her to wear, and then headed for the forest to find Dante’s hidden house.

“Thank you again for this.” Aspen said referring to the new garment.

“Oh thank nothing of it. Tis a gift.” Lillian replied as she wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

They walked for another couple minutes, and then Lillian broke the silence between them. “Look there.” She pointed to a group of trees, and Aspen looked that direction.

There behind the trees stood a little house; it almost looked like a cottage.

“Is that it?” Aspen asked.

“Mm-hmm. Come on. Let’s go on up.” Before they took five steps Dante popped out from another group of trees with some rabbit hanging over his shoulder, and bow in hand.

“Oh, Dante! We were just coming up to see you.” Lillian said as she noticed him.

Dante looked up. “Oh? What’s the occasion this time Lillian?” he asked.

“Well dear Aspen here wanted to see you.”

Dante put down his catch and bow before he drew closer to them.

Aspen stared as his face became clear. He was enchanting. How his face was so perfect; any girl’s dream. His lips soft, his eyes brilliant green, broad in the shoulders, and a handsome build; there wasn’t one flaw about him.

“Aspen, this is Dante. Dante, Aspen,” Lillian said. “It’s nice to see you up and moving.” Dante said as he took her hand and brought it to his lips. Aspen grew flustered, but with Lillian’s nudge, she answered, “Yes. Thanks to you, I’m told.” Dante looked at Lillian, and said, “Oh really?”

“Mm,” she nodded. “I thank you.”

He looked back at Aspen’s luminescent face. “You’re welcome.”

Lillian cut in. “Aspen says she thought she saw you just about every time she took a walk in this part of the forest. Just back there anyway.” “Oh that was you?”

Aspen nodded shyly.

“Then you should know that you’re the most beautiful thing that I’ve seen in these woods in a very long time. Forgive me if it came across as me stalking you.” Aspen nearly blushed wild berry red, and Dante smiled.

“Well I should probably leave you two to it. I must drop by the village square.” Lillian held out a sack she brought from home. “Give these to your mother, would you dear?” she asked Dante, handing him the sack.

“With pleasure,” he replied taking the bag as he got a whiff of the freshly baked goodness.

“Smells good.”

Lillian smiled and then turned to leave. Aspen had no idea that Lillian would leave her there in an almost awkward situation, but had it not been for what Dante said next, she would have made the whole meeting more precarious.

“Would you care to join me for a stroll?”

She looked at him, and said, “Sure.”

“Alright. Let me drop these off at the house, and we can be on our way.”

Aspen followed him as he fetched his bow and rabbits, and then they headed for the house. “Please, come in. I’m just going to set these down,” he told Aspen as he opened the door and stepped in. “I brought the rabbits mother!” he called out.

“Oh thank you Dante!”

“Miss Lillian also came by and dropped off a sack of some of her baked goods!”

“Oh! What baked goods did she drop this time?”

“Smells like cinnamon buns and fresh bread.”

“Oh good. We have desert and something for later days. Thank you Dante!”

Dante walked to the end of the stairs.

“You’re welcome! Hey, I’m going to go out for a bit. I won’t be long!”

“Alright. Just be careful, okay?”

“I will. See you later!” He walked away from the staircase and faced Aspen. “Come on.” He offered her his hand, but it being their first meeting, she didn’t take it, so he just led her out before he closed the door.

They walked a hidden path and spoke about different things for a long while, and the more they spoke the more comfortable Aspen felt around him. She almost saw him as a long lost friend, yet they had only just met.

“So where is it you came from?” he asked after a while.

“The closest eastern kingdom.”

“That’s a long ways off. Did you run all that time?”

“No. I only ran for two days.”

“That’s still a lot of running.”

“Mm.”

“Any how…”

Aspen looked up at him, having been watching her foot placement.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but did you run away because of your parents?”

“No. No, not at all. But…” Aspen was reminded of the scene that would stay with her the rest of her life.

“But?”

“I never knew my mother. She died when I was a baby.”

“Oh. Forgive me. I didn’t know.”

“No, don’t be sorry. It’s okay.”

“And your father?”

“Huh,” she sighed. “My father…” Aspen slightly hung her head. “My father was killed by a Shadow Mage. He was the one who told me to seek refuge here.” They both simultaneously stopped and fell silent. “He stayed behind to give me a head start, but I stopped and looked back. I couldn’t leave him. But by the time I got back, he was hit and the Mage entered the house and killed him using the bristle spell. I was the last thing he saw.” Aspen’s eyes turned glossy, but she managed to hold the tears from breaking free.

“So you ran because you didn’t have parents.”

She turned to him. “No. I ran because I was scared.”

Dante bowed his head. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have raised such a question.”

“Don’t…don’t be. It helps to talk about it.”

“Yet your eyes have turned to glass,” Dante said lifting his hand to her face. Aspen leaned into his palm and closed her eyes, forgetting the fact that they were strangers, as a tear fell to the leaf covered path at her feet.

Here, Dante was a little torn with himself. Part of him said that he should cradle and comfort her, but the other disagreed because they had only known each other a few hours, and it would seem inappropriate. In the end, however, he listened to the half of him that said to comfort her, and brought her to his chest. She was just short enough that her head was placed perfectly under his head as she curled her arms in against herself. Then he brought his other hand up and gently placed it on her soft head of raven hair.

Ever since then, the two of them were the best of friends. They would always spend time with each other, and it seemed that they were never apart. Even when Dante came into the village to pick things up, Aspen would be right there beside him. Just about everyone in Bellae could tell that there was a future with them being written, but for now, they allowed the relationship to build at its own pace.

However, during all that time, Tex had been watching behind the scenes without anyone realizing. Seeing Aspen act the way she did around Dante made him envious. One day, when he was watching them walk in the woods, he saw that Aspen stole a kiss, and that infuriated him. Tex had been flipping a stone in his hand, and after he saw her do that, he stopped, and crushed it into dust. He turned and leaned back against the tree he was behind, outraged, trying his hardest to not give himself away or break something. Gritting his teeth, he curled his fist and smacked the tree base, leaving a descent sized indenture. After that, he was ready to scream, but all he did was run, and lunge into his mist form - taking off back to the hide out.

Aspen turned to see what it was she heard, but saw nothing. Dante looked as well, but quickly turned his gaze back to her.

“Everything okay?” he asked, getting her attention.

She didn’t look back at him, but she answered, “Yah. I just thought I heard something,” and then turned. She smiled, and they went on their way.

BACK AT THE HIDE OUT, Tex went into the hidden room he had found, and started destroying anything he could get a hold of. Ceramic pots, and vases shattered against the walls; hand woven baskets were unraveled, lying in ruins on the floor. He threw spells at the walls and left them burnt or indentured, but no matter what he did could equal getting Dante for stealing his girl.

“AH!” he shouted after he shot another spell and quickly put his hand to his head, falling to his knees.

Tex pushed his fingers through his hair, stressed, and lowered his head. He wracked his mind, trying to think of what else he could’ve done to keep Aspen there - with him – but no matter how much he thought, nothing helped his situation. Then he curled his fists again, and threw them on the floor.

Akoff had witnessed the whole thing since the time he arrived. There was only one reason a teen-aged elven boy would act in that manner, and Akoff knew what to do about it. Hood up, and face hidden, he entered the room. Tex was still facing the floor when he reached him, and Akoff placed a hand on his shoulder.

“What troubles you so that you torture yourself?” he asked, pretending to be someone other than who he was.

Tex shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I lost what I was after, and I can’t get it back.”

“An object of personal value?” asked Akoff.

“A person I once loved.” Tex answered. “Her heart is won by another, and even if I showed myself to her, she wouldn’t know me well enough to remember what she had with me.” He pressed his fists deeper into the floor, and the room began to tremble.

Akoff looked around in silence, and looked back to the heart broken teen before him.

“Well there is no elf or man that isn’t as fragile as we are.”

Tex slightly lifted his head, listening to what he had to say. “What are you saying?”

“Not one living being on this Earth is immortal. So…if you wanted to, you could easily take out this one who has stolen what was rightfully yours.” Tex liked the idea, being as jealous as he was, but then what Akoff said next made him rather upset. Lifting his hand from Tex, he walked a few steps and said, “But if you’re fine with this one stealing your things, you can leave him alive and suffer the rest of your miserable life.” Tex glared, and his eyes began to glow. Akoff could feel a power surge beginning to grow, and smirked, preparing himself for a bit of fun.

“No!” Tex shouted standing and firing a killing spell at him. Akoff turned quickly and deflected it by firing an ice spike at him. Spells flew every which way in the room as Tex expressed his fury, and Akoff was seemingly enjoying himself.

“You weakling! If you wanted this girl enough, you would have taken her when you had the chance!” Akoff yelled as they still fought.

This made Tex all the more angry, and his spell casting rate began to increase; but, Akoff still managed to keep them off him.

“What do you know about it?” Tex shouted back.

“I know more than you know, I can tell you that!”

Just then, Tex remembered what Aspen did when he challenged her during the family festival, and looked to the floor. Dirt lay everywhere, and this was just the opportunity he needed. Then he made a spell big enough that it would keep his opponent busy just long enough for him to execute his plan. He shot off an electric dome, and Akoff was frantic in warding it off. Tex cleared his mind, focusing on what he wanted to do, and put his palms face up.

The ground trembled, but Akoff was too preoccupied to notice, and Tex opened his eyes, sighting his target. Then the dirt not only shot up making a wall behind him, it also crystallized, and shined a bright magenta before it returned to its original color. Tex kneeled and put his hands forward. Akoff finally got the spell to fly away from him, but as it did, he was hit by a crystal to the chest.

One after another flew from Tex’s hands and hit Akoff before 50 had hit him. The walls were becoming clearer the more Tex fired the stones, but they remained. Soon enough, nearly two hundred crystals had hit Akoff, causing him to fall. Tex stopped, seeing the walls had emptied and Akoff fallen. He stood and slowly approached his beaten opponent.

“She may be won by another, but this victory is enough to sustain me. Rise you pathetic excuse of a Mage.”

Akoff looked at him and stood. Tex watched as he did so, but his expression drew a blank as Akoff’s hood fell off his head.

Immediately, Tex fell to one knee.

“Forgive me, King Akoff. I did not realize it was you.”

Akoff shook the dust from his cloak, went over to him, and knelt beside him.

“Now that you know who I am, why don’t you tell me the name of this girl was won over?”

Tex hesitated, knowing that he had just blown his cover.

“I think you know her name all too well, your highness.”

Akoff squinted confused for a moment, but then he thought of Aspen.

“Aw. So we’ve been watching this girl without letting others know about her where abouts, have we?”

Tex was silent, and Akoff stood. He paced a moment, but then he jerked back around and back handed Tex. Tex fell to the floor with a cut just under his eye from the ring Akoff bore.

“You incompetent fool! Your mission was to find Aspen and bring her back! Not to watch her from afar and not report back!” Akoff shook his hand, but then examined his ring.

A thin layer of skin had been caught in the outer rim of the ring, he pulled it off, and threw it away. Then the wheels in his head began to turn, and things became clear as to why Tex had not reported back properly.

“Oh…of course. Why didn’t I see it?” he asked himself, putting his fingers to his forehead.

Tex lifted his head and looked his way, concerned that he’d figured it out.

“You’re not all Mage, are you? There’s still a part of you that invades the Mage side that tells you you need to protect her by any means necessary. Ha!” Tex gently put his head back on the floor in a defeated manner.

“That explains it then.” Akoff said upon seeing this. “Looks like you’ll be visiting a dear friend of mine then.” Tex lifted his eyes, and didn’t like the sound of that.

Knowing he wouldn’t go anywhere, Akoff exit the room to fetch the one he spoke of.

Tex closed his eyes, and passed out; not from being hit, but from exhaustion from such elaborate activity and adrenalin rush.

By the time he woke, he heard whispers and saw two pairs of feet standing before him. He rolled his head to look up, but his vision was a bit blurred. One figure squatted down beside him, appearing to be a girl. He was rolled on his back by the other person present, and then his vision became clear.

“Oriana?” he asked surprised.

“Hello, brother.”

“I thought you were dead.”

“Nope. Just hidden from the world until Auron was obliterated. Now just lie still. This is really going to hurt.”

Tex’s eyes widened as she held up her hand that grew large black nails. Orianna jabbed them into his side, which caused him to arch his back in pain. He screamed, but it was silenced as the transformation process began. Inside his body, a poison spewed from her nails and traveled through his body from his bloodstream. It seemed to devour every living cell that contain memories of his past, and spread like a wildfire all throughout his body. The pain was excruciating, but even still, Tex could not sound even the tiniest squeal. He jerked to and fro, and both Orianna and Akoff had to use a lot, if not all, of their strength to hold him down.

“How much longer until the process is complete?” asked Akoff struggling.

“Not long now. We just have to wait until it reaches his brain.”

“And how long will that be?”

Tex arched abruptly, and the two of them pressed him as hard as they could for a minute before he went back down.

“You’ll know. He’ll go limp, almost dead looking, but then he’ll force open his eyes, and they’ll beam a bright blood red. Only then is the process complete. Seriously, haven’t you done this before?” Akoff didn’t answer, and Orianna shook her head. “Don’t judge me. I was turned by your father slipping something into a drink.” She looked up at him. “Oh. Well that explains a lot.”

Akoff glared, but then struggled to keep him down, and Orianna looked at Tex.

“I’m sorry it hurts, brother. It’s just orders. I’d be killed for sure if I didn’t do it,” she told Tex telepathically. Tex turned his head her way.

“Why…why did you hide from us all that time?” Orianna was about to answer, but then his body fell limp, as he looked to the ceiling with a blank expression.

“I’m sorry, Tex. I’m so sorry.”

She looked to his side where her hand was inserted, and slowly pulled it from his body. Then she placed a hand on his upper abdomen and laid her ear against his chest. Akoff watched as she listened.

“Well?” he asked after a moment.

Orianna opened her eyes, and lifted her head. “You best be ready for the worst Shadow Mage ever born.” Sensing something off, Orianna looked at his face.

“Get up,” she said with concern in her voice.

Akoff didn’t move, but as she got up and said, “Step back!” he did so without a moments’ hesitation.

As they positioned themselves, a ripple of space and air bounced off Tex’s body, shaking the room around them. Both of them fell against the wall, and wedged themselves up in the cracks of the rock. The room still shaking, an almost blinding light burst from his torso, and hit the ceiling. The ceiling began to crack and crumble as it looked to be sucked in by the vortex of light.

The light then spiraled, and a thunderous wind cycled through the room as a high pitched sound came to ear, growing louder and louder. It all then disappeared quicker than a thought. The room was silent, and the two of them cautiously turned their heads to look at Tex. As they each took a step toward him, nothing happened. They took another step; still nothing. On the third step, when they were closest to him, he opened his eyes, and jumped up, scaring both of them.

Tex looked to Orianna, and then to Akoff. As he saw Akoff, he lunged toward him quicker than he could blink. Akoff’s back hit the wall harshly, and he found himself pressed into the rock. Tex then spoke in a voice that was not his own - gruff and disembodied.

“You were saying?”

Akoff gazed upon him in sheer terror, but had plans in mind. Orianna, on the other side of the room, breathed heavily, having just seen her life flash before her eyes. She did not like how this had turned out. Not in the slightest bit.