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Silent Storms

Started by DragonSong, December 06, 2017, 12:53:53 PM

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DragonSong

While the robe Jace had made was warm, it didn't really add much in the "stealth" department. Lily just had to hope keeping the hood up and her head down would help with anonymity, as she set about on the errands he'd set for her.

Surprisingly, she managed to purchase waterskins and something a vendor had called "hard tack" and recommended for long travel. Keeping her head down she scurried back out of the city, only slowly to take a real breath once she'd reached the place where Jace had teleported them earlier.

As deep in denial as she still was, it was impossible to ignore the pulse of her magic. Seeing as she apparently had some time to kill, the noble girl-

Am I even noble anymore? My family will think I'm dead, my name with be struck from the records...

With a sigh Lily sank down and folded her legs in front of her under her skirt. She lifted a hand and stared at it, brow furrowed in concentration. The pulse came from within her, so she should be able to control it, if she just worked at it. And if she could control it maybe...maybe she could make it go away.

Cautiously, she reached inward and tugged at that pulse, focusing on her fingers. There was a long, elastic moment where nothing happened. Then, slowly, frost began to form on her fingertips. The tiniest wind danced around her palm, tracing through the gaps between her fingers and ghosting around her wrist.

Wycliff

Jace blinked into existence in front of the tree, carrying a giant sack full of what could only be assumed to be dried meat, from the delicious smell. He noticed the small amount of magic swirling from Lily's hand, and he grinned, misunderstanding. "Starting to practice, huh? Smart!"


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DragonSong

Shocked from her reverie, Lily screeched and flung her hand out instinctively.

Icy wind tore from her palm, a miniature blizzard that swirled in a jet directly toward Jace's chest. Too late she realized what had happened and desperately cried, "No, stop!" But whatever meager control she'd managed to cling to had gone, and the magic spun away from her grasp.

Wycliff

The icy blast quickly sputtered out into a cool breeze, the magic visibly drained into Jace's person. He let out a jovial laugh, in an extremely good mood after eating, coupled with a small wink. "It'll take more than that to reach me, Lily. Try adding some ice shards, it's much harder for my aura to absorb solidified magic." He set the giant sack of meat down, and by the way it slumped, she could probably tell he'd been levitating it. "That magic will definitely come in handy, though, thank you! I was nearly out, myself."


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DragonSong

Lily stared at him for a long moment- then sort of collapsed forward, letting out a long, heavy breath. "God." She rubbed at her temple. "I thought-"

She'd thought she'd been about to kill him. Illogical as it may seem- it was just a little wind and snow- her fear and distrust of magic ran so deep that feeling the power get away from her like that had terrified her to her very core.

I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry- She sniffed and pressed a hand over her mouth, eyes clenched shut.

Wycliff

It was obvious she was in distress. Had she thought she was going to actually hurt him on accident? Jace had seen enough tears that day, he didn't know how many more he could take.

Jace knelt down, his face level with hers. "Hey, no need to cry. There's no way you could accidentally hurt me with magic, I was practically born to deal with mages." He smiled gently. "Above everything else, magic is an extension of your will, your desires. You must always remember that so long as your will is strong, your magic will never disobey you."


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DragonSong

She shook her head and tried to look away from him. He was too close. "I can't do this," she whispered, wiping angrily at her eyes. "I'm...I'm not- not strong enough." She drew her knees up to her chest and let her head slump forward, shivering slightly.

Wycliff

Jace raised an eyebrow, leaning back and sitting criss-cross. "Of course you aren't yet. Did you expect to be some kind of prodigy?" He raised a hand level with his chest. "Only a select few can control their magic without training. Hell, I've trained for my whole life, and I still can't suppress my absorption aura. The point is, it's like anything else, like learning an instrument, or a new profession: most people need to practice hard to even be proficient, let alone ever master their skill." He pointed at her chest nonchalantly. "You, however, have a slight advantage over other mages. It seems you were born with a high magic capacity, and a strong affinity for pressure and temperature based magics. If you work hard, and temper your will, I think you'll have no trouble controlling your power."


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DragonSong

"You don't understand!" Lily's eyes widened and she covered her mouth, surprised by her own shout. "It's not- I don't want this. I'm not strong enough to do this, I never asked for-"

She cut herself off and looked away. "I don't want to- to temper my will. I just want this to go away. I want to go home..." She sniffed and glanced at him sidelong. "There's no- there isn't any way you could take this away? Absorb it, or whatever you called it?"

Wycliff

Jace was befuddled. She didn't want her magic? It didn't make sense to him, why wouldn't someone want their magic? Maybe... she was still scared of magic from her upbringing by her family. He supposed that would make sense.

Jace shook his head. "Your magic is part of your body and soul, I can't separate it from you." He sighed. "I can't say I fully understand why you wouldn't want magic, but... there's no reason to fear your own power." He raised a hand with a smile, and lights of every color merged into a sphere in a beautiful display. "I don't know exactly what you were taught about mages, but there's no difference between humans that can use magic and those who can't. They live, love, feel, and hurt all the same." The light flickered out. "This country paints mages as war machines, dangerous beings that kill for fun. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and in fact, many Mordecai, the so called protectors of the people, fit that bill to a 'T'."


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DragonSong

She frowned at him a bit and mumbled a halfhearted, "That's not true." With a sigh she rubbed at her temples. "Not- not all of them. And I know mages are just people." She shook her head. "It's not mages I'm afraid of, or even magic, really. It's..."

Magic out of control. A power that could build or raze empires subject to the will of fragile human emotion. She shuddered. "Just...never mind, alright? We probably need to get moving." She forced herself to her feet, eyes on the ground and arms clasped loosely around her body.

Wycliff

Jace raised an eyebrow. "It's just what? If you're not afraid of the mages, what could you be afraid of?" He rose, shouldering the excessive bag of rations with a small gesture for levitation. "The fact of the matter is, nearly any end one could accomplish with magic can also be accomplished without it. My mother couldn't use an ounce of magic, but she killed more enemies in war than most people could shake a fist at. My father, on the other hand, turned Mordecai against the Grand Duke, all with only the strength of his heart and the reason of his words. With a simple decree, your Grand Duke put so many mages to death, it's a literal wonder that he hasn't been assassinated."

A long breath was taken, before he started off into the woods. "My point being, humans are the ones who sow misery, not magic, and just as you see now, we do not choose to be born with or without. So, tell me, if you were to watch a newborn wave their tiny fingers, and make a rainbow, could you condemn that innocent child to death?"


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DragonSong

"Enough." Lily glared at him. "Enough of your damned preaching. Of course I wouldn't condemn a child- I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone that monstrous!" She sighed and shook her head, looking away.

But she had to follow after him. She didn't really have another choice. "You judge the people of this land too harshly," she murmured eventually. "We are not monsters. Even those who truly believe magic to be a threat do not hate mages. They are scared, and when people are frightened they do not act rationally." Another sigh and she rubbed at her temples. The pulse that had been beating beneath her breastbone seemed to have moved into her skull, hammering away from the inside.

As for herself...she couldn't deny that the power scared her. How could it not? But she'd always been "too lenient" in her attitude toward mages, according to her father and the twins. While she'd much rather not have been cursed with magic, she certainly didn't think every mage should be condemned for a power they did not ask to be born with.

"I do not defend every action taken in the name of the Grand Duke's decree." Her voice was soft. "And I am...sorry. For your father. Truly I am, no one should have to endure that." She shook her head. "But you are judging an entire nation of people based on the actions of a few. How exactly does that make you any different from the over-zealous who hunt magic?"

Wycliff

Jace glanced back. "That's a solid point, Lily, I may not be so different from the Mordecai in some respects. I won't deny that I hate Connloath for what it did, and perhaps even it's people for being sheep by extension. However, you underestimate how deep the corruption goes." He faced forward to conceal his features. "The monster you spoke of? The one who would kill a newborn child just for using magic? That was my mother, former General Hakon Kilandre: and the source of the order itself? It came down from the Grandmaster Mordecai, who was a magically engineered superhuman."

He paused a moment, to let the fact sink in. When he was late into his teens, Mom had tried to dissuade him from coming after Dad, telling him about the atrocities Connloath would commit in the name of their ideals. The story still haunted him, though not as much as it haunted Mom. "She was a Major back then, an Adhara, when the Order came down to slaughter children who'd been found using magic, no exceptions. She was loyal, and did as she was told, even though her entire being screamed for her to stop." Another pause. "Don't get me wrong, I don't blame the people of Connloath for my father's death. I'm not so petty as to hold a nation responsible for the actions of one Mordecai, and it's a nice sentiment to hear your apology, but as I said, you did nothing wrong."

His pace was rhythmic, a steady, muffled thump of purpose. "The fact I don't think you and your country understand is that there isn't some happy middle ground, where mages are allowed to exist, but not use their powers. It's that flawed logic, that naive belief that everything can be black and white, cut and dry, that has brought Connloath to what it is today. The truth is, the world is not black and white, but shades of grey, where there are mages to be feared for their ambition and malice at the same time as humans to be feared for the same. Mages to be revered for their charity and good works, and normal humans likewise. It's people that must be judged, not uncontrollable constants like magic."



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DragonSong

Lily didn't answer. She just continued to walk, turning his words over in her mind- where she had the space for them. In all honesty she thought she might faint again, though due to sheer emotional, physical, and mental stress this time rather than an inability to control her own output of magical power.

Wycliff

Jace went silent, the sounds of nature filling in the gap. He hoped that her silence was a form of contemplation, he didn't have much more convincing left in him. He shuddered to think of the magnitude of smooth talking his Dad must have done to woo his Mom. To make a Military Adhara fall in love with a rebel Mage... it was insane. Maybe, that was why he left?

Jace's brow furrowed. Why did you have to leave? None of this would have happened, you'd still be here with me, Elly, and Mom. If his father hadn't taught him about the futility of time magic, he'd be at a library in Serendipity at that very moment studying it's execution. Not that he'd ever been great at studying, anyway: most of his skill came from experience, trial and error, a book was just words when it came to learning magic for Jace.

Interrupting his thoughts, a low growl rumbled from the bushes beside them. A wolf, sleek and grey, emerged, followed by two more of the same on the flanking side. Jace's eyes flitted between the three as he stopped. "Lily, get close."



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DragonSong

She didn't need to be told twice. With a soft squeak, Lily practically flung herself against Jace's back, eyes wide as she stared at the sleek gray bodies that paced around them.

She didn't think it through. There was no time for him to curb his natural abilities; the moment she touched him, she felt a tug at her magic and gasped softly as power began to trickle out of her. "J- Jace..."

Wycliff

A sudden influx of magic alerted Jace to a serious threat. Damn it- He magically hoisted the bag of jerky to the front of him, setting it down and darting around it to disconnect from Lily. She really had to be careful about not touching him.

The wolves had circled them by now, blocking any escape. The one closest to Jace bared its teeth at the sudden movement, but before it pounced, its ears perked up; Jace was holding a handful of the jerky. He knelt down, and placed it on the ground, at which time the wolf did pounce, tearing into the meat.

The other wolves, who'd been closing in, circled around, Jace having put another few large handfuls on the grass. He smiled, watching them eat, and picked the bag up once more. One of the wolves stopped, and began to snarl, but a glance from Jace had the snarl to a whimper, as a small surge of magic pressure filled the area. "We should be fine to keep moving."


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DragonSong

The air around her was starting to swirl, but even as it did she felt the power that called it into being siphoned out of her- until Jace pulled away from her, and she swayed, gasping. She shrank back from the wolves instinctively, positive they could smell her fear.

But the jerky seemed to placate them, and she was more than happy to scurry away from the feasting animals. She started to reach for Jace automatically, seeking the comfort of touch- then abruptly remembered why that was a terrible idea and jerked her hand back.

"When should we...stop for the night?" she asked slowly, tossing glanced back over her shoulder with every few steps.

Wycliff

Jace shrugged. "If you want to wake up with food tomorrow, probably not for another few miles. This is likely their hunting grounds, it's lucky they were well nourished." He grunted slightly as the full weight of the meat collapsed onto his shoulder. He was running out of magic to levitate the rations, but he tried his best to hide it. Looking weak in front of Lily wasn't on his to-do list for the day. Wait- why did he care?



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