An'Theros - Awakening (2)
#2 of Choose your Adventure
I know it's rather short, considering how long this took to write, and I'm sorry. Work and Life was draining everything I had set aside to write this; time, energy and other things.
Still, I hope you enjoy it, and I promise the next chapter will be both longer and quicker to be uploaded!
A Hero steps forth
Note : Due to Mage and Ranger having an equal number of votes, I flipped a coin. And it seems a lot of people wanted to see how a mage would work anyway... Enjoy! Also, I chose the name after a nomadic tribe that seemed to best fit the lifestyle of the stallions.
The plains of the Equinn Tribe were much like it's people; strong, barely tamed and incredibly fertile. Every root, every leaf, every petal that grows within it's borders has a use for those skilled in the knowledge of such things, including several secret mixtures and ingredients that the stallions refuse to share even with their closest allies. The nomads that roam it's lush green valleys and hills make a fair living on the trade routes, exchanging the "Milk", furs and meat of their herds, as well as their potent Potions and poultices, earning them a reputation of master healers.
However, for a tribe so deeply steeped in the natural, it was only a matter of time before they clashed with what they saw as unnatural; the wild magic of the deep, uncivilised world and the barely controlled magic of the mage. While not outright exciled, anyone born with, or developing the mark that comes with magical talent were shunned, resigned to the outskirts of the wandering tribe, compelled to erect their dwellings away from the main camp. No one is exempt to this unwritten law. Not even the son of one of the Tribe Councillors.
Nunak was born with the markings of a powerful mage, to the shame of his father. His left forearm glowing a brilliant blue as sweeping lines and soft curves wrapped around his young limb, forever marking him an outcast. While cared for and loved, he was forever watched as he grew through his toddler and childhood years for any signs of the unnatural, never out of sight of his watchers for long. The other children of the tribe kept their distance and the foal learned early in life that to have power was to be alone. As he grew, Nunak developed control over his gift, both in secret and under the strict watch of his guardians, though he often wondered exactly whom they were guarding from whom. In time, the most basic of magical skills were his to control; Fire, Water, Air and Earth, though the greater skills would remain a mystery without a proper teacher. It was in the last year before his sexual awakening that he was able to demonstrate that magical powers were not without their use...
It was not often a threat would reach the young of the tribe. The children and those barely into their training were kept safe and secure within the centre of the roaving camp at all times, forever under the watchful eyes of the adults and those too old to join the hunters and gatherers any more. But the lure of the forbidden drew the children away from the camp, away from their parents, outside the safety of the herd. Despite his misgivings on the matter, Nunak, simply having nothing better to do, followed them, from a distance naturally. Young as they were, even these children knew that to bare the glowing mark was to be avoided. So it was only he who saw the approaching predator using the long grasses to it's advantage, remaining hidden from the foals at play. Without thinking, he leapt from the rock he was sitting on, running, yelling, attempting to warn his tribesmen. The beast however, took this moment to stike, leaping high, ready to land upon and rend the nearest victim. In a heartbeat, Nunak raised his hand, unbidden, eyes narrowing as the mark on his arm flared and changed as he summoned his magic.
In his mind danced a pure elemental fury, images of the leaping predator; A) Writhing on the ground, flames licking at it's skin, scorching and cooking, the air hazy with the scent of burning fat and flesh. B) Frozen mid-leap, a flawless scuplture of ice that began to crack, shattering, scattering frozen lumps of flesh and gore around the grassy clearing. C) Swept into the air, tumbling and turning, paws scraping and clawing at it's snout as it attemted to draw in breath that forced it's way out of its lungs. D) Being roughly impaled by several sharp pillars of broken rock, it's life blood trickling to the ground below, seemingly drank deep by the insatiable earth.