As the sun rises in Summervale
eCCioE & Zer0ic
As the sun rose in Summervale, Elena stepped out of her little house and looked around. The morning was beautiful. Birds flew around and sang their songs, little animals like rats, squirrels and even rabbits just ran around and did their own stuff. It seemed like a perfect day for Elena. As the Madame Alerva, she had to help people around the town and that's why she went to the town centre.
She immediately saw a homeless person, a drunkard, coming towards her. Yesterday, she had given the man some money to buy something he really needed. But it seemed like he had just decided to buy more alcohol. As a wealthy family, Alervas never had any problems with alcohol nor with being homeless. And that's the reason the Alerva women never truly understood these people. But since it was Elena's job, she walked to the man.
"What did you do with the money I gave you?" she asked quickly and even a bit angrily. But the man didn't answer. He just took another sip of alcohol and looked at Elena with a quirky smile. But Elena hated the smile and so she took the bottle from the man and threw it to the ground. It was logical, that it had to break according to the power the woman used. And it did break.
"You know, you are a sick old man. Why did you even start drinking? Why do you make your life so hard? What... is... wrong with you?" she asked furiously, but when the man came closer to her (most likely to punch her), she stepped back and used a little bit magic to push the man away from her.
The homeless drunk had played his role in his plot nicely. He was absolutely distracting her like he had planned and now would be the time to strike.
Dovanthis appeared from behind her and created a blade of ice, putting it to her throat. "Thank you old man," he said throw a bag of coin at the drunkard's feet. "Now, leave before I decide to kill you." In one swift motion the man snatched the bag and ran.
"You, Elena, put your hands behind your back," he instructed. "You're valuable to me, but if you so much as struggle. I will send your mother your lovely head removed from your body," he informed her with serious intent.
As he waited for her to follow his command he thought to himself, "The client better pay me the other half of my 50,000 gold coins." He wasn't a cheap assassin, but for a simple kidnapping he decided 50,000 was fair. He knew the client would make more on the ransom, but he wasn't patient enough to try that himself.
"What?" Elena asked. She was totally confused when a man tried to kidnap her. She tried to get free, but the man was too strong for her, so she just decided to stand still and try to fight against the man with words. Like her mother always told her, words are more powerful than anything else. It might have been true most times, but in this situation, it seemed like words are useless.
"I am Madame Alerva! You must let me go! When my mother hears about this, she will kill you!" Elena shouted, even though the man was really close to her. People around the town centre just looked at Marianne and it was totally awkward. She had lost her honor because of the stupid situation and so she just decided to shut up. "My mother will kill you, you stupid bastard!" she whispered.
Elena put her hands behind her back and waited. There had to be a chance to stand against the assassin or whoever he was. She just had to wait for the perfect moment to strike.
Once she placed her hands behind her back and he started freezing them together with his ice magic. "Your mommy couldn't have me killed. I am already dead," he said in a stern voice.
"To bad I have a client, because I would love to sell your loud mouth to a slave trader in Adela. They'd treat you the way you truly deserve. By the way, who gives homeless men money without them following through with a request first," he ask, questioning her reasoning. He could tell this was going to be a long day.
Pushing her softly, he said, "Please, start walking out of town. Or, should I freeze your feet together as well and ice slide you out?"
Dovanthis shook his head in grief. He hated outspoken women, because they always had a more-superior-than-thou attitude.
"What do you want from me?" Elena asked as the man ordered her to get out of the town. She decided to not move until she gets a serious answer from the kidnapper. To be sure the man does nothing bad to her, she was ready to use some magic to defend herself, though she didn't know how powerful the man is. The woman understood that the man liked using ice, but she wasn't sure if that's the only power he can use.
So Marianne stood there, without even looking at the man and waited for the answer. She didn't say anything, just looked at the town. It would've been too dangerous to show off her emotions, but she was somewhat angry and a bit happy at the same time. Madame Alerva was as sly as her mother was. Like the Alerva Queen, she didn't give up easily and tried to stand against everyone who questioned their honor, even if she had to die because of it.
"Seriously, I just said I have a client," he said profoundly.
He was surprised she could comprehend she was being kidnapped. "You family is wealthy and your alive. What I want from you is to listen to my commands, follow them, and you'll soon be back with your mom."
A warrior in town noticed her being restrained. He knew who she was and decided to save her. "Unhand her you bastard," he yelled, charging full speed with his sword. He swung his sword at Dovan, yet the blade past through him and the sword trailed with smoke.
"It's futile. If you value your life, I recommend you quit now," Dovanthis said in a stoic manner.
"Never," screamed the warrior. He begins slashing many times and many times it passes through Dovan. "I will save you milady," he told her.
"I warned you," Dovanthis said quickly placing his right hand's index and middle finger to the man's forehead. Then, he dropped dead. The air around them got misty quickly and the young warrior's body began to shrivel like a raisin.
Madame Alerva looked at the whole situation without doing anything. She was thankful for the guard for trying to save her, but she felt like it was completely useless. The kidnapper seemed too powerful. Possibly he had trained for many-many years, according to his confidence and great fighting skills.
As the warrior fought with the man, she tried to think of a useful spell, but she wasn't sure if she was powerful enough to do these things. Of course setting the man on fire would've helped, but these spells take too much energy. Channeling your own energy into fire was really hard. She had tried doing it a few days ago, but she couldn't make a single fireball. Setting the kidnapper on fire would've been suicide.
The magic Elena used was hard. If the user used more energy than they they had, they would've killed themselves. And that's what Elena didn't want. That's why she thought using air is easier and less dangerous. At the moment, when the man put her fingers on the warrior's forehead, she quickly breathed in, waited for a moment and then breathed out lots of thick fog. After a moment, she didn't see the man anymore, though probably the man was still near her.
Then Elena started to run. While running, she did the same thing. Breathed in, waited for a moment, breathed out fog. She hoped it was enough to escape to the woods. She was already halfway there.
Fog quickly filled the town and his target vanished, but not so easily. He was extremely skilled in magic as he dedicated most of the past 13 years to honing his craft. He took his left wrist with his right hand and sucked up the fog into his left hand forming a ball of water. He could see her darting towards the forest. So, he threw the ball of water to the ground, turning it to ice, and sent the ice traveling all the way to her. He watched her slip on the ice.
He used his smoke form to travel instant to her. "Please, don't make this any harder for the two of us," he said placing a hand out to pick her up. With the other hand he released her from the ice shackles with a simple gesture of his hand.
Helping her up he said, "I am going to leave you unbound, break my trust and plan on being a human icicle."
"What is wrong with you? I asked you, what do you want! Who's your client? What does he want from me? Why would someone want me?" Elena asked from the man. She looked into his eyes, waiting for the answers. Probably he wasn't allowed to do that, but she still wanted the answers. It seemed a bit weird, that someone wanted the Madame Alerva, not the Alerva Queen. Or was it the plan?
Indeed, capturing the Madame Alerva meaned, that the Alerva matriarch lost a successor. Maybe they wanted to kidnap Elena's young sister too? If they did so, their mother would be left without a heir and the Alerva family would fall.
"Nothing, I just liked getting paid," answering the first of her list of questions. "The client, I am not sure. Maybe you know him. He is about this tall, has brown hair, blue eyes, and is a half-elf." Dovan paused to think if he could provide more information. "Maybe, a ransom for money or to secure a high political position, personally I don't care," he continued. "Well, do I have to state the obvious? You're the Alerva Queen, are you not," he asked sarcastically.
To his surprise she should her head no. "You are Elena Marianna Alerva, the Queen of the Alerva family." She continued to shake no. Maybe he was a fool to think the drunk gave him the right information.
"Well, if you're not the Queen, I am selling you to a slave trader," he said while trying to hide his smirk.
"How much do you want?" Elena asked. It was all. She replied to the man with a single, short sentence. Their family had money. They had land. They had everything. And she just needed to know, how much does the man want.
"Nope, you are being sold," he reinforced.
"You're not the Queen, so to cut loose ends I will sell you. Then, proceed to snatching your mother." He took in a long deep breath and said, "You only have one other option. And, I am being serious. I'll drop you off in the Serha Plains instead of selling you. If you can tell me how I can get your mother."
"You can't. My mother is too busy helping those who need help. Even I don't know where she is at the moment. Probably she's wandering around Summervale or maybe even around the whole Serendipity. I don't know," Elena told to the kidnapper. Maybe someone would've thought she is lying, but she actually told the truth. The Alerva Queen never stayed in one location, because otherwise, the rulers of Serendipity would've seen their kindness and wealth and most likely would've granted them nobility.
"If you really want to find my mother, you will have to do it yourself. It may take years and maybe she dies before you find her and then I get the throne of Alerva. I don't know. But I am not helping you." She was really stubborn and didn't want any troubles to her mother.
"Where are you from?" she asked instead of telling the man any more information.
He picked her up over his shoulder and answered, "The grave, but if you really must know, I was born and raised in the Draconi Forest." He took off out of the town.
She was extremely light. It was effort less carrying her. He wished every body he had ever picked up was this heavy. She made a pillow seems cumbersome. "You need to eat more," he said jokingly.
"Hope you like slaving Adelan men. They can be rough sometimes." Like right now thought, considering he was Adela citizen. "I think you'll make a fine mistress in Ketra. Or, maybe you could be a prostitute at a local brothel. The possibilities are endless," he rambled on.
"Why do you think I will do it? You are all such idiots. Now I get it why my mother hates men. He married Viktor just to get children. She'll probably kill him soon," Elena said as she did something with her hands. It didn't seem to be magic what she did, but it might have been. Just... nothing happened.
"Why does he need my mother? She is not even important to the nation. She is just a woman. Just a simple woman, who helps people. Is that forbidden?"
The garrulous little woman would not stop talking. He was surprised she could even breathe during her rants. "Why her," he thought. Wishing she was a mute. The talkative girl was starting to piss him off, but he never showed it to be so.
"Hey, quiet. Your fate is sealed," he told her.
She attempted an escape with magic and he shook his head. "By the way, you suck at magic," he stated. The only thing she had been capable of so far was simple fog.
"You remind me of me trying to cast my fire magic years ago. Couldn't do it anymore, but I learned other techniques just as powerful," he said, trying to start a conversation to prevent her from ranting and stop his ear from bleeding.
"Fire magic... who needs it anyway? We have so much other stuff to channel our energy to. Earth is very powerful, doesn't need that much energy... Air is really easy. Well, water is hard to use, but... We don't need fire at all," Elena argued. She had given up at using fire and now concentrated on other magic.
"Why do you want me to use magic? Do you want me to escape?" She didn't sound confused. She was sly. And she had a plan.
"I need fire magic. It is the life blood of my clan. And, I shame them by not being able to release fire. It is the magic of beauty and respect. Not that you would understand. You probably can't even cast fire as it is the hardest for humans to learn," he said spitefully.
"Honestly, I wouldn't mind a challenge, but you won't be able to provide me with one. Lately my missions have been boring," he started to explain to her.
Suddenly he remembers training in fire magic with his father. He hasn't been able to remember anything in the past 13 years and she caused something to click, but what was it? What did they just do or say to cause some memory to come back to him.
"Well, I don't like this magic. It's too strange," Elena commented. "I have never learned how to use fire. I have never made a single fireball. I can only heat up myself to huge temperatures. And nothing else. My mother thinks I should only use basic magic I'll get myself into troubles." She sighed and tried to make a ball of fire. She didn't succeed. And she was tired. Tired from the fog-making she did before and tired of shouting, ranting, trying to escape.
He felt sorry for her. "Hey, it's your lucky day," he said, stopping to placing her on her feet. "I am going to teach you how to truly use fire," his eyes lit up with excitement.
"First, never insult the magic. Second, ignore your mother's comments." He took one of her hand and said, "In order to produce fire you need to feel your rage and focus it all into the center of your palm. You must show fire your courage and since air magic comes easy to you apply it into the spell to feed the fire, making it somewhat easier to cast."
"Um... Alright." Elena looked at her hand, looking, if something happens. She tried to focus on fire, rage and on whatever else. But nothing happened. But like she knew, if first you don't succeed, continue trying until you do. It was an old quote. Her mother always told her this, but at the current time, she had forgot to do so. She gave up too easily. She fought, tried, but finally, she gave up. A few years ago, she never gave up. Never.
Elena breathed in and tried to feel angry. She remembered all the things that made her furious. The man, a few situations that happened some days ago... And finally, she sensed some heat forming in her hand. It didn't become fire, but it was so close to it. It was more than heating up her own body. There was heat outside her body. It was on his hand. It didn't exactly touch her skin, more like levitated over there.
And even though Elena didn't succeed at creating fire, she was satisfied. But, of course, she had used much energy to do it and she became really tired. Not the same type of tired you feel when you want to sleep. She felt like she was tired of living. Maybe she had used more energy than she had?
"Thank you..." she whispered softly.
"You're welcome." Dovan smile at her as a job well done.
"Change of plans, I am not going to sell you," he told her. "You remind me of how I was. So, I'd like you to join me and become my apprentice," he said curiously.
He touched her and sent a large portion of energy into her body. "If you chose to join me you will not be an assassin, unless you want to, and I promise to drop the job of capturing your mother."
He could see him raising the greatest mage that ever lived. She could do the good he wished to do with his life. If only he still had a life. She would be the one to change the world of magic. His name could go down in history as the one who trained a legend.
"So, what do you say Elena?" Dovan still had his smile on.
"I..." Elena said and thought a bit. "Yes." She liked the Madame Alerva life, but now she understood, that her life needed adventure, problems, fun stuff. That's what she had never had before. Now she had the chance and so she decided to become the man's apprentice. She was still so tired, that she didn't shout or jump around the place or whatever happy people do. She smiled.
"But... What is your name?" Marianne asked a bit later, after a few moments of silence. She didn't even know the assassin's name. Actually, she know almost nothing about him. She had heard some stuff about the man's history, but not else.
"I am Dovanthis Arynkhun. Please, call me Dovan," he answered.
Now, he began contemplating what their next objective would be and said, "Elena, we are going to the client. I would like you to pretend to be my captive when we reach him. Then, you can question him, but we must rid the world of him. I'll handle that part."
The location the client was at was in some cave on the coast of Summervale. This was going to be somewhat fun at least. He had a companion and was going to kill his client. And, make sure he collects the other half of his fee.
"Alright, Dovan, but I need to rest a little. I believe I used too much magic," Elena said as she nodded. The morning had been so adventurous and crazy, that she needed some time to rest. Maybe then she could help the assassin, her new master.
"I don't know, what you do, but I want to sleep for an hour," Marianne said and walked towards a tree. The place seemed good enough to sleep at. Seemed. She didn't know, what could happen when she sleeps there. There might be giant spiders or poisonous bees or whatever.
Dovan waited for his student to rest up. After all, she did give everything into making a fireball. "Take a nap. I'll be standing guard," he said.
Time passed by slowly and the wind pick up. Soon clouds rolled in over them. Dovan decided it was time to wake her before the rain does. "Let's get a move on," he informed her while shaking her to wake her up.
"We don't have much time before rain starts to fall. If you don't like getting wet, we need to move to the next town quickly." Dovan stuck his hand out to help her up.
Elena fell asleep as she lied on the ground. She didn't have a dream. Or at least she didn't remember having one. Maybe she didn't fall so deeply asleep that she would've seen one? The time just passed and it seemed like at one moment, Elena fell asleep and at the second moment, Dovan woke her up.
She was really confused and sleepy when she woke up. "What? Rain?" she asked, looked to the sky and nodded. It took some time to recover from the nap, but finally, the woman took Dovan's hand and stood up. "How far do we have to go?"
"I'd say about five or six miles do east," he answered.
He took off with a quick pace and pulled her along. "We need to move out now. Lightning is gathering in the clouds." This wasn't good. It was a magical storm, meaning someone was planning on controlling the lightning strikes.
"Quick, we need to move fast," he said continuing to pull her. This is not the time to be slow and they were currently in serious danger. And who ever was casting this spell was immensely powerful.
"Okay..." Elena answered while following his new master. Five miles... or even six... She wasn't sure, if she can run that far without stopping. After all, she wasn't a marathon runner. But she had to try. The storm looked really dangerous and like Dovan said, lightning gathered in the clouds. As Elena had understood, lightning was the hardest elemental magic. Of course she wasn't able to do anything with it... Okay, yes, she could. She could kill herself with the lightning.
"So... Is it possible to form a protective shield around us?" She asked a bit later.
He thought about it. She was right. A good defense would be perfect right now. He could just turn himself into smoke, but she'd be killed. Then, it came to him. "Give me something metal, anything made of iron or steel preferable," he quickly replied.
Shit, neither of them had metal of any kind. He needed to rethink and re-plan. He had an idea to save her. Actually, it was more like she could save herself. "Can you use earth magic? If so, can you use it to locate metal underground and pull the metal to the surface?"
"Well, yes, I can," Elena said and smiled. "I don't know, if I can pull the metal from really far, but I'll see, what I can do." Then she hit the ground with one of his legs and it released a seismic wave, meaning, that a small earthquake happened. But it was really small.
"I found something. A buried sword or something like that." She started pulling it towards herself, but it didn't come closer. It stayed in one place and not a single piece of dirt had moved. She sighed and decided to push it out. Again, she hit the ground with her leg and suddenly, a sword flew out of the ground. It had been pretty near, actually.
Dovan froze the sword 50 feet into the air, making an ice tower with a blade at the top. "With a lightning rod we should be safe. Now, for good measure can you make a bunk with your earth magic?"
He could sense a mage nearby. The caster's scent was down wind and meant he or she was at their North flank. After taking a second inhale of air he could tell it was a familiar woman. Once more he took in the air and discovered the mage was the Necromancer.
He knew the Necromancer didn't want him dead. She wanted Elena dead, but why? What did she want from him? She resurrected him without giving him propose as to why she brought him back to life. She seemed to need him for something, but what? What could she possibly need from him she couldn't get elsewhere?
He shook his head and began to inform Elena. "Forget the bunk. She is here," he said pointing to a woman standing just outside of the forest line. "Be careful, your death is her objective. She gets jealous when I work with others and not her," he said sarcastically.
"I can fight too..." Elena said, looking at the woman. She didn't see her quite well, but the woman seemed to be a really Gothic person. Maybe she was a necromancer or something? Then Elena turned her head to the ground and looked for a branch. Even a small, little one could help. She saw one and decided to take it, so she bowed down and took the wood.
"I have a plan."
The Necromancer vanished and appeared right in front of Elena as she began to stand up with the branch in her hands. "You, what do you want with my play toy," she asked, referring to Dovan.
Now in her face, Elena could tell she was correct. The Necromancer had on a black with blood red trimmed robes and a black cloak, giving her a gothic appearance and she was a beautiful blonde hair, blued eyed witch. "What do you want with my man," the Necromancer said, rewording her question.
Dovan got in between them and said, "Leave her out of this."
She glared at Dovan and put a wicked grin on. "Anyways, what is your plan dear? I am curious what you plan on doing with a simple piece of wood," she asked with a giggle.
As Elena stood up with the branch, she was scared by the suddenly appeared woman. She stepped back and held the branch in front of her like protection, but it is known, that a small piece of wood can't hold a Necromancer back.
"What do you want? I am just a student of Dovan," she said while stepping backwards again. Her plans couldn't work out anymore. The woman came to them faster than she had thought and now she couldn't do anything she had planned. She had to improvise.
"A student?" The necromancer looked confused. She was trying to wrap her brain around the fact he took on a student. It wasn't like him. Did he remember anything of his past finally?
"How is my pet doing anyways," she asked Dovan.
"I'm fine. Are you going to tell me your name yet? It's been over a decade and you still haven't told me your name." Dovan has wondered his conjurer's name since his resurrection. "Never mind, I'll just kill you today."
She giggled again and said, "You know as well as I do. I am only weak to fire and that's why I sealed it from you."
"But not her," Dovan said, trying to hint to Elena it was now or never to strike her with fire.
Elena looked at the situation, being a bit confused and worried. But she had to do something. She heard the discussion and understood, what is going on. she understood, why Dovan became her master. He wanted to get rid of the Necromancer.
So the Madame Alerva stepped closer to the Necromancer, tried to become as angry as possible and then touched the woman. A flame formed in the hand of Elena and it quickly spread to the clothes of the Necromancer.
The Necromancer was surprised. She quickly put out the flames by causing he storm to rain instead of using it to cast lightning, but it didn't stop the flames fast enough as it burned most of her attire. "You little bitch," she screamed furiously and half nakedly.
"You look better with flames upon you," said Dovan.
She growled and generated lightning in her hand and casts it at Elena, but she forget they have made a lightning rod and her spell travel straight to the iced sword. Her anger just grew vastly after missing. "I am going to kill you! Die," she continued yelling.
The Necromancer began to channel flames in her hands in order to blast the hell out of Elena. She even started to giggle madly as she prepared her spell.
Dovan watched in horror as Elena was about to be incinerated and casts an ice wall to protect her, but the flames were to strong and easily passed through the wall of ice.
Now Elena was in serious danger. She felt the heat of the fire that Necromancer made and she understood, that elemental magic is not enough. She had to do something she had been scared to do. She had to use the magic her mother, the Alerva Queen used.
Though the Necromancer sent a blast of fire towards Elena, she still saw the woman's eyes and decided to do it. She looked at the eyes of the Necromancer really confidently. Her mother had taught Elena, that looking at another person's eye without blinking or looking away can put the person in serious pain. And that's what Elena tried to achieve. It needed a lot of concentration and focus, but it was the only way to damage the woman.
"What is this pain I feel all over my body," the Necromancer had thought. Her flames kissed Elena's face and nothing else. She closed her eyes as the pain intensified, but it stopped as soon as she closed her eyes.
"What was that," both Dovan and the Necromancer questioned at the same time.
Dovanthis was glad she survived and he wanted to understand, learn, and be able to use the technique his young apprentice had used. "I need to obtain that move," he thought.
The Necromancer raised her hands and two skeletons crawled out of the ground. "You will die today. And I will not allow you to be summoned afterwards," she said with a maddening grimace and sent them to attack.
Elena was happy that the spell worked, but after the Necromancer closed her eyes, she fell down and became tired again. But she had to do something to win the stupid woman. "What do you want from Dovan?" she asked as she stood up. She had gained enough courage from the fight and success in her abilities, that now she felt they could even win the Necromancer.
The skeletons rose and Elena started feeling a bit worried. Of course she new Necromancers can summon dead people, but she didn't expect it. Death was the opposite of Life, so maybe summoning animals could help? Well, Elena didn't know how to summon animals. She had only learned elemental magic and some necromancy, but not life force spells.
Dovan dived in and took out the skeletons with two icy blades he created. "She hasn't answered that for me and I'm sure she won't do the same for you."
"Listen to your master," the Necromancer said licking her lips deviously. "Now, for something stronger," she said lifting her hands. A fiery portal appeared and out walked a centaur demon-like creature. "You can't handle this one bitch. So long as I keep Dovan busy," she told Elena and darted at Dovan to battle him.
With Dovan busy and a crazy four-legged demon charging at her with a flaming great sword, what was she to do?
Marianne didn't know what to do. The situation made her confused. The Necromancer was really strong and it made Marianne lose her confidence. She quickly thought, if she knew a spell that could help her. Well, elemental magic was too weak against Death, so she automatically excluded it. Maybe she could inflict pain on more than one person, without eye contact? She knew it's really hard, but had to try.
Madame Alerva took all of her energy and focused on the one spell. She did it so hard, that she became blind. Well, not actually, but she just didn't concentrate on what she sees. It gave her even more energy and finally, she tried inflicting pain on everyone, including Dovan and herself. She didn't look at anyone's eye and hoped that she succeeds. At least she felt pain on herself.
Her spell worked extremely well with one exception, the demon. His blade flew down at her, but Dovan stoically rushed to her rescue and deflected the attack. The Necromancer was just like Elena. They both were on their knees in extreme pain, but Elena's eyes began to bleed the spell was so powerful.
The pain began to intensify to the point Dovan could not long stand the pain. It seemed she had no control and wasn't going to stop until they were all dead. So, Dovan decide to break her concentration by sending an ice spike into her shoulder, a location he could guarantee her survival.
The pain stopped and they were all crawling on the ground. Dovan grew even more determine to start a study on this technique of hers. He looked over at the Necromancer to see if she was dead, praying she was dead.
"That bitch. How can she cause so much pain? I need to get out of here," thought the Necromancer as she opened a portal and crawled into it.
Elena stopped the infliction as the ice spike flew against her. She fell down and wiped the blood from her face. She used too much energy again. So now she knew, that being tired of life is the first step to magical suicide and the second one is bleeding.
"Are you okay?" she whispered, hoping, that everything is fine. She wasn't fine, of course, but she had learned to be extremely selfless. And she was used to it.
Dovan got up and dashed to his young apprentice. "You did well," he said while pulling out a red dragon mask and put it on.
This mask was special as it belongs to the 1st Arynkhun Dragon Elder and it allowed the wearer to channel great amounts of primal energy. He then started to heal her with primal energies. "How did you do that? What was that move," he questioned her, continuing to heal her wound.
"My mother... she says that magic is bad, but actually, she uses dark magics, Necromancy, Primal magic..." Elena answered and sighed. "She has taught me to inflict pain on people with making a really strong eye contact on them." She looked at Dovan and smiled.
"Thank you for healing me!" she said and closed her eyes. "Do we still have to go there?"
"No, but not taking care of the client and keeping his money he paid me up front could cost us. He might send someone after us," he said stroking her hair. It was an attempt to comfort her.
"Are you prepared for that? A life on the run could be a torturous journey," Dovan said with a reassuring stroke to her head.
His mind was on learning the eye technique. He wanted to have that power so badly. It seemed to be an option to killing the Necromancer without needing fire magic. His began to get greedy thoughts and one was to just killing the girl. So he could examine her body thoroughly in order to figure out how she preformed the move.
"Alright... We should go there. I believe I am ready to move on," Elena said as she stood up. "We shall see the client." She wiped away a few leaves from her body and then looked at Dovan. "Can the client use magic?"
She was really interested in learning the magic. And she sensed, that Dovan wanted to learn the pain infliction technique. The woman really hoped her mother doesn't become furious. The Queen Alerva had a reason to be angry. She had lost her heir who has decided to learn magic.
"Well, let's rent some rooms at an inn in the next town," Dovan said.
About a half an hour later they made it into town and went straight to the nearest local inn. Dovan walk up to the innkeeper and asked for two rooms. He noticed the inn was lively and filled with people, unlike the town itself.
"I'd have you know I only have one room available sir," replied the old innkeeper as he wiped down a table.
"Then could you point us to the next inn," Dovan asked.
"Sir, this is the only inn in town."
"Great, do you mind sharing a bed," he ask Elena. It made him a little uncomfortable to ask, but no way in hell was he going to sleep on the floor. He was a gentleman, yet he also took care of himself.
As the two reached the town, she looked around, trying to understand, how good was the life of this town's people. There weren't many people and the one she saw were pretty normal, so she assumed they are mid-class people.
Later, when they were in the inn, she didn't focus on the discussion the innkeeper and Dovan had. She analyzed people in the inn. Tourists... she thought. There weren't many towns she had seen, but none of them were favoured by tourists. This one didn't seem different from other towns, but tourists liked it. And it didn't seem logical. At least to Elena.
"Alright... I guess we'll have to sleep in one bed," Elena said, not even listening to Davon. She didn't think about it because an old woman had got her attention. The woman sat in a corner of the inn's hall. She was like any other old woman, but that made her so odd. The corner was surrounded by darkness. It wasn't very dark. Just a bit darker than the rest of the room.
"Alright, looks like you got yourself a deal," Dovan said handing over some gold coin.
He took a seat at the newly clean table the innkeeper made and let Elena wonder within the inn. Ordering a glass of water and a half loaf of bread, he noticed she couldn't take her eyes off of this old woman sitting alone in the inn's darkest corner.
"Elena, sit. Order something," he said trying to get her attention, but to no avail. She wouldn't quit staring at the hag.
"Elena," he started, "Sit down and eat something. You need to recover yourself for tomorrow we'll meet up with the client," he told her. Still nothing, he just pulled her down into the chair next to him. "What is wrong with you right now?"
"The... woman." Elena still looked at the woman, but sat down and thought about what to order. Well, she could get some bread or a cake. And maybe drink some water or even ale.
"So what was up with the Necromancer? You seemed to have some unsettled business or something?" she finally turned her eyes away from the woman. She ordered some ale and bread. Some might think it was a bit weird that a woman would drink something like that, but she liked it. She wasn't a drunkard, who drank alcohol 24 hours a day. But sometimes, she just wanted something more than just water or juice.
"I am someone she resurrected and I believe she stole my memories like she sealed my fire magic away," he said in a serious tone.
"She has been keeping an eye on me since she gave me another chance at life, 13 years ago. I want her dead. I think it is unnatural I am alive and I know if you kill a necromancer all there summons much return from which they came." Dovan sipped on his water, cleared his throat, and continued with, "She still looks the way I first met her."
"Anyways, what is up with you holding that hag in your gaze just a second ago?"
"I am not sure. She seems so strange, odd," Elena commented. The old woman in the corner stood up and started walking closer to Elena and Dovan. She used a walking stick to walk and that made her really vulnerable. Madame Alerva just felt like she had to be protected.
"But don't you fear death? I mean, do you really want to destroy the Necromancer?" she asked, changing the topic again.
"I've never feared death. Not exactly, if she could provide me with a good reason for giving me another chance I'll happily let it go," he answer.
"Strange?" Dovanthis looked at the hag and noticed hobbling this way. "What gives you that impression? She looks harmless." He then bit into his loaf and swallowed it down with water.
"Alright... If you think so..." Elena replied and took a sip of her drink."But I think the woman looks so weak, so vulnerable. She needs protection. I may sound a bit weird now, but that's what I think." The woman came closer and closer and the darkness came with her.
"Hello, my children!" the woman said like all of the old people. Elena was so tired of all the "my children" old people say.
Dovan simply ignored the old hag and said, "Elena, continue with what you where saying." He had no intention in giving the old woman his time of day. She was beneath him to acknowledge as he found it disrespectful she called him a child.
Dovanthis waited for Elena to answer him by taking another bite into his loaf. She seemed annoyed by the hag's comment as well. He hated disrespect, no matter the age there was no excuse for it in his mind.
"Yes, hello!" Elena said, but she noticed, that Dovan didn't want to talk with the woman, so she stopped talking with her.
"But really, there is so much you could do. You might even get your memories back. I am not trying to change your opinion. It's your choice, after all, but I would like to see you living," she told to her master. She took a sip of her drink and took a bite of bread.
Dovan felt wanted. A feeling he had felt since he was a teenager. Wait he just remember something else, but he stilled didn't know who it was he loved. That fact depressed him. "I appreciate the kind words, but my life shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have been involved with me. And the people I kill shouldn't have..." He was distracted by the hag's breathing down his neck.
"Yes, can we help you?" He was in no mood to deal with her, but he couldn't take it, her stand over his shoulder.
The woman didn't answer. She just stared at Dovan really creepily. Elena became scared and leaned backwards. "I don't like her..." she whispered to Dovan. She hoped that her master will do something. She didn't want anything bad to the old woman, but she didn't like the situation.
"Time for bed, Elena, we have a long day ahead of us." He turns to the old woman and says, "If you'd excuse us, will be going now." He hated being polite, but she was old.
"Elena," he grabbed her by the hand, "come on, we don't have time for this."
The reached the room and Dovan let out a sign. "Damn, she was annoying. Elena if you'd please close your eyes and turn around, I'd like to prepare for bed."
She did as she was told and could hear metal hit the floor. A ruffling of cloth then happened and finally he said, "Okay, done." He had tucked himself on the right side of the mattress. "Your turn," he said facing away from her with his eyes sealed shut.
Elena was really confused. When Dovan finally saved them from the creepy situation, she felt thankful and breathed calmly. She went to the room with Dovan. He wanted to prepare for bed, so Elena turned around, shut her eyes and thought. Thought about the day. The morning had been really beautiful, but boring. Until she met the homeless man and Dovan. It had made her day interesting.
When Dovan was ready, she prepared herself too. Of course it took more time than it took for Dovan because she wore more complicated clothing. But finally, she was ready and went to bed. It was a bit awkward, but she had to deal with it.
What made it really awkward for her was when she slipped into bed she found out he sleeps in the nude and he was already asleep. She was going to have to suffer though the night with her master naked in the bed she was to sleep in.
Out of nowhere when she was finally comfortable he maneuvered his leg over her body. Dovan began to cuddle up to her.
She had one of two options. Wake him up to get him off and deal with an awoken nuke man or deal with it throughout the night.
The night was awkward, but it suddenly became enormously awkward, when her master started cuddling her. It was as creepy as the old woman, so Elena became scared. "Um..." she said. Of course it didn't wake Dovan up. "What are you doing?" she said louder and hoped, that her master will wake up.
He awoke half way. He was in between falling asleep and trying to coherently understand what his apprentice was trying to say, but as soon as she tried to explain the situation he put her in he had fallen back into a deep sleep.
He was so close and pressed against her she could feel every part of his body. She would have to be loud to wake him. Otherwise, she'd have to contend with whatever part of him that was sticking to her thigh.
Elena felt very uncomfortable, so she sent a strong air wave towards Dovan, causing him to fly away from her. But Madame flew away too. She almost hit the wall, but fell down just a few inches before it. She sighed and stood up. "Dovan!" she shouted.
"Yes, my Dragon Elder," he shouted and stood in line. He just noticed what he did and relaxed. "What's going on," he asked. Noticing she was on the floor eye level with his dragon he grabbed the blanket and dived back onto the bed.
"What the hell is going on here?" He looked to her for answers as if she could explain what just happened and why.
"You do realize you may be of age, but please don't every try something like this again," he said, thinking the red color on her face was from her getting caught trying to sleep with him. "You're young. Find someone your age and is a living member of this world," he caught his breath and continued, "I am very flattered you're attracted to me, but you need to learn to control your emotions, especially if you want to perfect magic.
"What? I had to protect myself. It as self-defense. You attacked me." Elena was furious and confused, like she had been the whole day. "I don't understand you at all." She understood it now. She knows nothing about Dovan. Maybe he acted the whole time, lied the whole day? Doing things while asleep can betray your actual personality and the person you actually are.
"Why... did... you... do that?"
"Do what? I am not sure what you are talking about," he said
"Self-Defense, you call staring at my dragon self-defense? What, you were going to protect yourself by hiding it in your mouth?" He was beginning to think she was a huge pervert.
"You don't understand me is damn right! I promise you I didn't send any mixed signals," he assured the pervert. Why did it come to this? It turns out my apprentice has a sexual crush on me. Maybe I should have seen this coming, but I didn't feel like she was trying to flirt with me at all.
"What?" Elena asked. "If there's a pervert in the room, then it's you. You cuddled me while I was trying to sleep." Now she was really thinking, that Dovan wasn't a normal person, that he is a bit crazy. What is wrong with him? she thought.
"You're lying. I haven't had a woman in bed with me in over a decade. Correction, I haven't had anyone in bed with me in over a decade," he informed her.
"Why can't you just admit you tried to sleep with me?" He was shocked she would lie directly to his face. He wished she'd tell the truth already so he could go back to bed with this pervert trying to play with them while he sleeps.
"What?" Elena asked again. Now it was enough for her. She took her things and put them in a bag. "That's it. I can't listen to your lies. I will leave and find another place to spend the night. If you don't mind..." She was really furious and when she left the room, she shut the door really loudly.
Finally, she left the inn and started walking around the place. She met the same old woman, who had been in the inn. "My child, you look worried. I wanted to warn you. It is not safe here for Madame Alerva. Come to my house." Though Elena was still afraid of the old lady, she decided to go with her.
Dovan was unsure what just happened. She took off to sleep elsewhere and he chose not to stop her. He was tired and decided he would talk to her in the morning.
Throughout the night he couldn't sleep. He worried for her and wanted her to be safe, but she wasn't an arm's reach away anymore. He got up and quickly got dress to find his apprentice. He was angry with himself for not just stopping her sooner when he had the chance.
He ran down the stairs to the dining hall of the inn and asked a young waiter, "Did you see a young women leave here in the middle of the night?"
"Yeah, she left with this ugly old woman last night," he said while cleaning a glass cup.
"So, old lady... What is you name?" Elena asked from the creepy old woman when she entered her house. The woman didn't answer. She only guided Elena to her room and said: "Good night!"
The woman is really creepy, Elena thought as she prepared herself for going to bed. She worried about what had happened. Maybe Dovan was worried too? Maybe he looked for her? But yeah, Dovan was rude and Elena had to get away from him.
Dovanthis searched the whole town banging on door after door asking for her. Finally, he came to a house with someone who knew of the old lady and they told him where her house was.
Just outside of the town was an eerie looking house covered in grime. He walked up to the front door and knocked, but got no answer. He knocked again, this time louder, and the old hag answered the door. "Where is she? Tell me now," he said gripping her shoulders.
The old woman answered the door, but didn't say anything, just looked at Dovan with a bored face. Elena was already in her bed trying to fall asleep. But she couldn't. The emotions she had didn't let her sleep. She had done so much, had felt confusion, happiness and sadness, anger...
"My son, why do you want to find the girl? I protect her. I know what you did and I feel like you should think about it," the woman finally said. "I will not let you enter the girl's room. You can come back at morning, if you want to apologize."
She already knew about the day. The woman was an oracle and that's why she heard every nearby person's thoughts.
Dovan was surprised by what she had said. How could this old woman protect Elena? Think about it? Think about what? He could believe what was happening. She even told him she know what he did, but even he didn't know what he did to upset Elena.
"Fine, I shall return in the morning," he said. As soon as the hag closed the door he turned into smoke and slipped his way into the room containing Elena. No old hag was going to tell him he couldn't she her.
He appeared at Elena's bedside and noticed her struggling to sleep. He was relieved to see her alive and well. It looked as if he'd have to wait until morning. Before he could sneak back out the room door swung open and there she was, the hag.
"Why are you so obsessed with the girl?" The woman asked. "Why do you want to be with her if you don't accept your own mistakes? She needs to rest and if you try to distract her one more time, I will destroy you. Now leave, my son!" The woman was really angry, but he didn't yell, it was more like whispering.
Elena moved herself in the bed. Her eyes were closed and she didn't hear much anymore. She was almost asleep.
Dovan was offended. Obsessed? Is that what the hag thought? He was far from obsessed, because he thought of Elena more as a daughter than one to obsess over. The only girl he was obsessed with was that damn necromancer. Now, that was obsession and not in a friendly.
"How dare you shield me from my student," he said hiding the slightest agitation from appearing on his face. "You have no right to assume I am not accepting of my flaws," Dovan answered earnestly. "And, I am not your son, human."
He looked over at Elena sorrowfully. If only he could figure out what he had done wrong.
"Well, if you are not obsessed, then leave. It's my home." The old lady walked closer to Dovan and put her hand on his chest. "I know what you are and I know why you are, I just don't understand, how can you still have feelings." The woman didn't know, if Dovan fel what she did. She got information from the man. She stealed his memories and his thoughts.
"Stay away from the girl, my son!" she yelled later as she left.
"I'll leave your home." He was content, because Elena was safe.
"How would you know who I am or why I am," he questioned. "You don't know me woman. You probably barely remember your own name." She rattled him a bit with, "How can you still have feeling?" He didn't understand. "What are you talking about woman?"
"Wait," he begged the hag. "What are you talking about? Do you know me from the past? I've been looking for someone like you. I can't remember anything since my resurrection. Please, tell me anything you know about me," he pleaded.
"I only know everything you know. You remember your past well, but you can't just access the information. The line is blocked. Even I can't get through the block, but if you really want, I might try to get to your memory by another way," the woman said, "but only if you really want."
Dovan what to know his past, but how come she seemed to be skeptical of getting them back. "What is it? What are you not telling me? I need to know the procedure to get them back. What is the cost? I need to know," he said calmly, though underneath exploding with excitement and confusion.
What is this woman not telling me? What could be so bad that I wouldn't want my memories back? I need them as they are my only hope of finding my place in this world.
"I sense dark energy in you. A necromancer... A female necromancer. I sense a dark block in the line. I believe it was set by her either intentionally or not. But alright..." The oracle sighed and patted the man's shoulder. "I can't see your memory, but I can help you see it." The woman walked towards some seats and showed to Dovan with a gesture, that he can sit too.
"You see, the line... or the path, whichever do you prefer, is blocked, but on both sides, there is consciousness. You can't get to the memory by the ordinary way we always use. I call the ordinary way "from heart to mind way". You think with your heart, but your memory is in your mind. You can't get to your mind, but you can use the unusual way. That's what I call the "invasion way". You use your mind to get to your heart. This way, you use really powerful energy to send a part of your consciousness to your heart. The blockage is on the way, but the invasive energy is so powerful, that it breaks through it." Then she wiped her hand and some water flew into a teapot.
"But you must concentrate. It needs more focus than any of our mortal magics normally do. And you can only do it if you really want it."