WOLVES MIST - Chapter 4(.5)
#6 of WOLVES MIST(2)
Skye closed the door behind the others as they filed out and turned to his mentor. "There's something that bothers me sir."
The grandmaster looked up at him "The spell the mage used before you blacked out?"
"Yes, I haven't seen or heard of anything like it. Do you know anything about it?" Skye asked.
The grandmaster indicated to Skye to take a chair at his desk. "No and it has me worried as well. We're constantly working on new spell-forms and enchantments. New weapons and defences, but in all my years I've never heard of something like this."
Skye sat down wearily "I know this may sound strange, but I think it might be a new source of magic." He looked up at the old man to gauge his reaction, but the grandmaster only looked at him impassively. "If it had been any of the five elements, I should have been able to see their flows. None of them were present. It was just a pit of darkness."
"Go on child." The old man said. It was the way that he'd always been with Skye. He would let him think a thought through fully before commenting or correcting his student.
"The other thing that has me confused is that the area was completely devastated, but we we're all fine. The Draco's bodies were gone and so was the mages, with no trace of their presence. I doubt very much that whoever you send out tomorrow will be able to find any residual magic's other than the spells I used and the few the mages cast before the black orb." Skye took a breath, considering the whole situation. "My only conclusion is that something else must have saved us or someone. Whoever it had been must also have had access to a magic that we know nothing of. The destruction that we awoke in could only have caused by great powers and I'm sure I would have at least seen the after effects if it had been by the magic's that we use. That and then there's the question of why I can now see Chris, yet he's still uniquely undetectable by magic."
The grandmaster nodded as he listened and was quiet for a while before he spoke. "I would agree with you, but with no proof it is nothing except a theory. It could simply be that it was a weapon of sorts or that the mages herself was a new breed of warrior made by our enemies. You've read about the form changing spells, I know you've studied specifically how the Wolven are created. We and the Imperialists have created creatures and weapons from people for decades now, either to gain the upper hand or as a counter to the others creation." The grandmaster sighed heavily. "As for the question of Chris I don't know if we'll ever find the answer and I hope that whatever saved you will be out on the field of battle to assist us if we come up against anything like the mage used. We have so much power and so much knowledge, all of it focused into destruction. I wish that we could go back to the times when there was no war."
Skye could see the pain in the old man's eyes, memories that must be haunting him from his time when he had been one of the many on the battle field. He wished that there were words of comfort and support that he could give his teacher, but knew that there was nothing that he could say that would ease the old man's pain.
Skye quietly directed his attention away and around the room where he'd spent most of his time. The darkly polished grand desk of the grandmaster, the faded tapestries depicting great battles and formidable creatures that he'd stared at for hours while contemplating a newly learned spell-form. At times he wished that he could return to the farm, finally be able to see his mother and father instead of the formed creations of blackness his touching had imprinted in his mind. Lost in his reverie he started when a loud snore ripped from the old man. Skye looked at his teacher. His face was worn, but the hard countenance was softened in sleep. His many years so heavy on his shoulders in wakefulness seemed to melt away in his relaxed state.
Skye could only imagine how the burden of thousands of lives must feel resting on this old man and the council's shoulders. He wondered if it was really such a bad thing if wizards were to rule, instead of simply being the care-takers of magic, people who had the power to protect and aid those who could not defend themselves. The Grandmaster had told him tales of some of the magical beings that inhabited the world and of their simple splendour and wonder, but also the dark tales of how some on the council had been adamant that such creatures weren't to be left free. How they should be controlled and studied, their rich lands given over to people to farm. How ancient forests should be cleansed of their magical inhabitants and be cut down for their lumber.
It had been those few on the council who had first told of how wizards should rule others, how their power gave them the right to choose the path farmers, cities, kings and queens should follow. They had gathered followers and finally confronted the council with an ultimatum. When they had been dismissed they had vowed vengeance and then the war had started.
Skye focused again on the sleeping form of his mentor and stood up. He walked around the desk and gently shook the old man, who snorted loudly as he came awake. "I think it's time we retire sir, it has been a long day."
The grandmaster smiled up at him "I'd say your right. I'm glad you came back safely you know, I was terribly worried for you." The old man's sentence finished in a large yawn and Skye helped him as he got up unsteadily onto his feet.
Skye escorted him to his quarters before returning to his own and relaxed into the arms of sleep. That night his dreams were plagued by shadowy figures in the distance always just out of sight.
The weeks had dragged past, Snow cursing the fact that they were on cleanup duty. He and Chris had to wash up after every meal time and clean the fire pits and scrub pots. After training he had to help clear away the targets and stack the weapons, things that were usually done by the keeps servers, at least now that the younglings had received their own gear it wasn't that much work. He'd been relieved when Tess had not questioned the happenings of their adventure, but now he felt that it hung like a cloud between them and feared every moment that she would spring the question on him. He felt like at anytime he was about to step into a trap and be unable to free himself from it. Chris reassured him constantly that it was nothing but his imagination, that Tess had probably already pushed it to the back of her mind and it was only his own worry that was plaguing him. The nights he spent with her sleeping in his arms he'd lie there wondering what really was between them, if she felt for him as he felt for her, other times he'd wonder what exactly it is that he felt for her.
He and Chris were up to their arms in hot soapy water scrubbing pots clean when the shadow of Bayle fell over them. "You two are going on an assignment." Snow and Chris looked up at his gruff voice. "You are to report to me at the training grounds after you've finished clearing up here."
Snow stood open mouthed watching as the large tawny Wolven walked away, not giving them the chance to ask a question. Snow looked over at Chris who was also staring at the back of the retreating mountain of muscle. Chris turned to look at him before asking "Assignment?"
A slow grin spread over Snow's face, his ears perking upwards like mountains stretching into the sky. "I wonder if we're going to be sent to war? Or out on a mission behind enemy lines? Come on let's get finished and go find out!" He could barely contain his excitement as he scrubbed furiously at the pot in his paws, he also didn't see the look of trepidation on Chris's face.