Alastair still hadn't come back by the time Cara returned, and frankly, he was the least of her worries at that time. The words of the strange woman rang through her mind like a gong. She could not believe there was a chance that she could get to see Fristborn again or even be with him. So, as she stepped back into the hut, she quickly lay down beside his ash."Is it possible? Can I see you again?", She asked as she closed her eyes. She was both antsy and happy, a mixture of feelings she could not decipher. She knew she had to think before she made any decisions and she needed to do a lot of thinking. But she was past that. If she had acted when her mind told her to, Fristborn would not have died. So, she was tired of thinking. She wanted things to change and they would not do so unless she made the decision to make it change."How will it affect the people around you? You must not be in a haste Cara. How do not you know this is not a bad idea?" Her subconscious asked her."How do I
The room was dark, and it had the smell of incense and weed. Cara could not adjust to the smell at first. She quickly threw her hand across her nose to shield herself from the toxic smell. She could swear she was becoming dizzy at first. Joanna saw this and chuckled again, setting herself down in a large, wooden chair at the center of the room."Does the smell make you uncomfortable?" She asked Cara as the latter still threw her hand across her nose..she could not pretend that it did not."What is it?" Cara asked."Pine leaves, weed, Cod leaves, and many other leaves, some of Which I do not even know their names. They enhance the energy of the house, my energy. They make me see clearly. They give me a focus and if you allow it, maybe they will give you a focus as well.," Joanna said, slowly watching Cara like a hawk."I don't know. Maybe we will skip that part today." Cara replied and looked around the room.There was not so much decorating the room, save for some flowers that were ha
A brand new beginning. That was what Fristborn's coming back was for Cara. All she could think about as they walked out of Joanna's house was the present moment. The thrill she was getting as they walked toward the stream. She had been so happy with seeing him that she did not remember to ask Joanna what it was she wanted for payment. Certainly, no one would go through all of those trouble without expecting something in return. What would it be? Cara forgot to ask."The air feels so different here. It's way better than it was on the other side." Fristborn said to her and took a deep breath. There was a line around his neck which Cara could see, possibly a reminder that he had died in the most gruesome way ever"What do you remember?" Cara asked him. He frowned as he tried to remember what had happened to him in the past but it was coming with much difficulty."I remember being taken by the Werewolves. I remember being in their lair. Then, I remember them giving me something to inhale
There was worry written all over Alastair's face as he kept watch on Cara all through the night. He kept his distance from the hut, but the behavior she had exhibited made him stay awake all night. Why did she do that? Why was she changed? A few hours ago she was as dark and gloomy as the night, but suddenly, she had a source of happiness. It did not make sense to him.Alastair understood the fact that such sudden joys did not come from nowhere. There was a source for it and whether that source is a good thing is another question entirely. Where did she go? Who did she meet? Alastair was determined to find out and nothing was going to stop him.Or, has she gotten over the death of Fristborn already? Was Alastair living in denial of that fact? Was that why he was questioning her? Alastair sighed as many thoughts ran through his mind. And since he was sleep deprived, his head was quite flooded. Perhaps he should just let her be and leave her to grieve the way she knew best, even if it w
Here we are."Cara giggled as the view of the house came into view. Alastair did not understand why she was particularly interested in going back to that house. It's not like there was something special about the place. Or maybe he could not see it. The house had a dirty and damaged look from the terrible disaster the Werewolves had wrecked on it. Alastair could still remember that night, the unexpected fight he had found himself in. He seemed to be getting into a lot of fights. The only peaceful years of his life were those sixteen years he spent without doing magic.Other than that, he has been jumping from one fight to the other. Alastair was beginning to get tired of them. He was beginning to want a different approach to life. He was tired of living like he was walking on eggshells, and he knew that as soon as he was able to get Asmodeus out of Cara for good, he was going to retire.He needed serenity and he was not going to get it galavanting around the battleground. His swordsm
The day went by in a blur. Alastair was done fixing the walls and had begun to clean up the space where he had worked when Cara stepped out of the house. She mentioned something about getting wild plants to spice dinner with. Alastair did not object, he just let her do what she wanted.All through the day, Alastair ransack his memory for the particular event that had made him feel such chills before. But why could he not remember? The memory was at his fingertips, he could literally sense it but it was not coming. It felt like something opaque was blocking the memory from his mind. Alastair knew what he needed to do to remember, but he had to clean up first. He was looking dusty and his musk was strong enough to kill a bird from the distance. When was the last time he had a bath? He scoffed at the thought. Back then at the Elderien's keep, they were taught about the importance of good hygiene. Not only does it distinguish Elderien mages from all other mages across the world, but it
From the distance, Alastair could hear someone weeping. It sounded like a woman and from the tone in her voice, she had been weeping for a long time. Their horses trudged along as they approached a little village by the side of the ten streams, a little stream in Elderien so named because it is believed that ten streams merged to form that single stream. But, eventually, the gods changed their minds about the streams and they could not allow something so trivial to exist on the earth.So, they shrunk the size of the stream, creating dry land in the process where a part of Elderien was erected instead. People believe that is why Elderien mages were stronger than other mages found in the world, the gods touched the earth ok which they thread themselves.From a young age, however, Alastair never really believed in the gods. He was not sure if they existed or not, and if they did, they surely did not care about mundanes. Perhaps the lowly humans were too below their standards. Or perhaps
The woman scoffed and took a step back from master Orion. She was obviously terrified of him, and when she sent glances to the man standing beside her, Alastair knew the man was the ghost. He had to be, right? Because there was no other way he could just appear out of thin air.Before then, Alastair did not believe In ghosts. That unbelief was the very thing that made him less fearful and more daring than others. He knew nothing would come from the beyond to hurt him or something, although there have been speculations about ghosts since he was born.But at that point, standing before and gazing at one changed his entire opinion. He was scared, so scared that he could barely stand. He wanted to collapse but master Orion shot him a glare and he quickly composed himself. He did not know if he could stand long though. Fear was a terrible thing to go through."Stay back! Do not come any closer." The woman said to master Orion as he approached her. She kept stepping back, shaking in fear.
***Final Chapter***The monster hurled at the ship with a force so great that its punch pushed the ship backward. They were lucky not to have sustained a tear because Alastair and Blaize had formed a shield to block the punch. The shield, however, shattered immediately upon impact.The ship groaned and tilted from side to side, and what came next were screams from the crew as they fell into the sea. The captain struggled to find her balance, however, that was proving difficult. The ship groaned again and tilted to another side, shaking the captain's grip off her sword with which she had stabbed the deck.She screamed as she glided towards the sea, which at that time was already being occupied by monsters that looked like snakes. There was a multitude of them, and their hisses could be heard. They had killed the members of the crew that fell into the sea.As the captain was about to fall overboard, Blaize created a shield that blocked her path and pulled her back into the ship. She exch
"Set sail!"The captain's voice rang through the entire ship as men busied themselves with their jobs. The crew members ran Helter skelter as they tried to get the ship running, and in no time, they did. The ship roared as it sailed on the sea, a sight that sent shivers down Cara's body For Alastair, he just stood beside her and watched other members of the crew as they worked tirelessly. The captain was no longer with them. She was busy shouting orders, screaming at the men, and cursing them as they worked. Considering the fact that she was much smaller than most of the men on the ship, it was a funny sight to see.She soon sent Alastair a gaze and nodded to him. Alastair returned the gesture. As soon as the captain looked away, Alastair smiled softly. The time was finally approaching, and there was nothing to stop destiny from unfolding. He was still lost in thoughts when he suddenly began to feel like there was a pair of eyes looking at him.It was the same feeling he had gotten b
"Stand firm. Widen your stance and fix yourself to the ground. Strike with intent."Alastair instructed Cara as she sparred against him. Her moves had gotten better already but they still needed some more work. She groaned and struck Alastair, putting in so much of her energy that she tripped and fell down when Alastair made a false move."Predict where I will be. It will be what you need most of the time. You need to see the bigger picture when you are dealing with an opponent. Stand up and come at me again."Alastair instructed and Cara obeyed. She was past the stage of grumbling. She knew she needed to become stronger for what was coming.She charged and did her best to predict Alastair's moves. But they were too advanced for her. However, Alastair did not hold back. If she was to fulfill her destiny, she needed to become better than he was. Alastair decided to do a move to throw her off balance but Cara suddenly blocked it.Alastair was surprised. He pushed a bit further and intro
"Why don't you put down the crossbow and we can talk this through like adults?" Alastair said to the captain who scoffed at his guts. Her eyes were blaring with anger, and the only thing in her eyes other than anger was turmoil, pain, and regret.She steadied the crossbow in her hand and fixed her gaze upon Cara. Her eyes never left her. It seemed like she could remember what happened that day, the fire that suddenly blasted them all apart. She could remember the smell of burnt flesh which filled the air, saturating every part of the house. She could remember the smell of her own flesh and the moment that hit her, her face twitched a little. She took a deep breath and pointed the crossbow at Cara. Alastair did not want to use his magic against her for he knew they would be needing her help if they were to get to the isle of mists. But how the captain survived was still a mystery. He was certain she had died."You! You did this to me!", The captain said and pointed to the scarred part
"You didn't even ask for her name." Cara said to Alastair as they walked down the busy road. Their short time at the pub had not turned out the way Alastair hoped. He just kept walking in silence, and the silence was what made Cara uncomfortable."I did not need to," Alastair replied and she scoffed."Why not? She was clearly into you and you liked her as well. What is stopping you?" Cara asked, but then she realized how insensitive her statement was. She should not say such things about Alastair's relationship."Is it because of Miranda?" She asked but he was silent."How do you know she is still waiting for you?" Cara asked again but Alastair still said nothing. She was right. He did not know. But the thing bothering him was that he might not live to find out. "I... I do not want to forget her. I want to cherish our memories together until there is nothing left of me. That is why I cannot look at another woman. But what do you know? You are just a child.".Alastair said and scoff
The night still ravaged on as Alastair and Cara kept walking down the streets. Alastair got the chance to see more of the town, like he had secretly desired. The town was a beautiful place, quite exotic as well.He did not know if it were the decorations, or the thrill in the air but he was certain that that town had seen alot of bad days in the past and they were trying to make out the future as best as they can. He could see a young woman and two kids which looked like they were hers.The woman glanced at him and smiled, a smile which melted Alastair's heart. He saw that she had twin boys, and the imagination of the kind of life he would have been living if he grew up with his mother and brother was vivid.One of the twin boys ran towards him and gave him a popsicle. Alastair smiled as he took the popsicle from the boy, and giving their mother a nod, she quickly led her eager boys toward a candy shop. Alastair sighed as he watched them. He did not even hear Cara stepping up before h
The journey was quiet, and although the moonlight shone upon them like the ever glowing beam of light that it is, Cara was not feeling it. She just kept walking, a step behind Alastair. Her head was bowed, her fists were clenched. Her nails were digging into her palms, although not enough to give her an injury, it still hurt.Maybe she wanted it to hurt. Maybe she just wanted to feel something at the end of the day. She had been so hollow ever since the fight. She could feel Asmodeus crawling around in her mind. She could feel the Phoenix slowly regressing. She could feel the terror that was coming, very one that she was destined to bring upon the world."Are you alright?" Alastair asked her, snapping her out of it. She nodded quickly and looked at him for a moment. "You look disturbed. Is there anything you would like to talk about?" Alastair asked her again but she shook her head. He decided not to press her. If she was ready to talk, she would."Do you miss it? Everything else bef
An energy blast escaped from cara's body and hit all those that were in close proximity to her, James and Denise included. The force of the blast was so powerful that it took them off their feet and crashed them onto the ground. Cara let out a guttural growl as energy began to radiate from her body. The red, hot, energy began to gush out even more as her powers levitated her slowly. The growls continued, and so did the fear on lord Karl's face. He has never seen anything like that. He and his followers were not sure of what to do at that point. They slowly stood to their feet and watched as she stretched out her hand toward them. Her yellow eyes fell on them and with a sudden spark, her energy surged again. This time, it did not hit James and Denise. Both were surprised that the energy phased right through them to hit a sorcerer standing behind them and when they turned around, their eyes beheld a horror unlike what they knew before.The sorcerer's body froze. His eyes stretched out
"Cara... Cara, are you alright?"Cara could hear Fristborn's voice call out to her. She opened her eyes slowly and what she saw was someone she never knew she could see any more. Was she dead, or was she dreaming? She gazed at Fristborn's face and in that split second, she reached out to touch him.But someone else quickly grabbed her hand and she turned and saw Denise standing there. Her eyes roamed back to 'fristborn' but was actually James that was kneeling beside her. She blushed in embarrassment as she quickly say up. They were no longer in the house. From what Cara could see, they were some distance away from the house and it was not too quiet. She could still hear the sounds of guards running around, trying to look for them. The three of them remained silent for a while."What happened?" Cara asked as she rubbed her eyes. It felt like she slept for a long time."You fainted," Denise replied to her. Cara tried to recall what had happened after she felt the surge in her magic b