The Definer

Chapter 16

No! He couldn't be gone!
"What about the spells you placed on him?" I asked Ariana.
"I... I don't know. He must've gotten out of them or something. Maybe I did it wrong." She said, still in shock from the whole situation.
Dean rushed through the front door and picked me up in a big hug.
"I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to make sure that you were ok." He explained.
"Dean, Daniel escaped Ariana's spells." Mark explained.
"What?" He said, instantly releasing me. "No one has ever escaped your spells. How did he do it?"
"I don't know. To get out the only way I know of, he must be much, much stronger than me and I am over 600 years old." She said.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"You will return to Dean's place. You won't use magic of any sort. You and your friends should be safe there." Ariana explained.
"Friends? What friends?" Mark asked.
"Don't worry." She snapped.
"I want to know. No matter what, I won't tell anyone."
"They're humans." I blurted.
"Why did you bring humans here?! They'll kill them all." He said but his lips didn't move.
I know, that's why you can't tell anyone. The tevits know they are our friends. They will definitely use them all as bait. I thought to him.
"I'm coming to protect your house." He announced, this time out loud.
"Ok. I need Jess here for a little while though." Ariana said.
Dean pressed his lips against mine for a quick second.
"Stay safe, my love." He whispered in my ear.
"Always." I whispered back.

After Dean and Mark left, Ariana told me what I had to do. I was to train with all the council members in the three different categories that I would need to know- intelligence, fighting and most importantly, magic.
"You will work with Emane first, then Aleric, then me. We will all teach you all the things you need to know. For the next three days, you will get to try them. You will then practice them over a three week period." She explained.
"Ok, so what do I need now?" I asked, getting rather interested.
"Everything. Weapons, protection, a stylus, a badge and a few cool gadgets."
"Ok."
She led me to a room. It was a small room compared to most of the others in the palace. Each wall was lined with weapons and helmets. There was a wall of small pen looking things and one of badges.
"What's a plaque?" I asked Ariana.
"Rare. That's what. Why?"
"Daniel knew some personal stuff about what happened on a certain day. He said that it was amazing what the plaque would show him."
"Great." She said sarcastically. "If they have a plaque, it shows them visions but on a clearer picture and to anyone, not just clairvoyants."
"Does that mean that they can see our plans." I asked.
"The plaque only shows them what it wants them to know. If the plaque is an evil spirit, then yes, they probably will see our plans. Luckily, the Queen made all fifty herself and chose only souls that are full of goodness."
I scanned the room once more. On one wall, there were swords of every shape and size. One of them caught my eye. I walked up to it and lifted it carefully from its hook. It was surprisingly light. The hilt was a golden colour with rubies and sapphires lining the very top. The blade was smooth and shiny. The light glistened off its perfectly sharp edges.
"Good choice. That sword was made by Marfolk. They use their own scales to carve and make the very best weapons in the whole realm. The blade, it's a mixture of four different metals which makes it the sharpest and most indestructible of all blades but it's also as light as a feather. I'll show you a cool trick." She said.
She grabbed the sword from my hands, and took a few steps backwards until she had some space. She swung the sword around in an awesome pattern. After it picked up speed, it glowed orange and flames began trailing behind it. It was incredible. Ariana stopped swinging it and the Orange glow vanished.

"That was amazing." I said in astonishment.
"I know. It's amazing what Marfolk magic can do." She laughed. "Choose a bow."
I looked at the wall she was pointing at and saw a row of bows.
"If I were you I would choose the matching set." She suggested.
I looked through the bows and surely enough, there was a golden bow with rubies and sapphires on each end. I picked it up and passed it to Ariana before moving on down the wall. I picked a crossbow that was also he same, then two daggers and a rope.
"What do I need rope for?" I asked, confused.
"That's not just any rope. It is laced with magic."
She placed the weapons I had handed her on a table and took the rope. She swung it around for a moment. It started glowing orange with the flaming trail just like the sword. She then wacked it on the table she had placed the weapons and it burnt the table clean in half.
"Wow." I said in shock.
"It can also be used as a normal rope." She explained.
I laughed and turned back to the rows of weapons and supplies. I looked at all the badges. They all looked exactly the same. I reached out for a random badge.
"Look out! They-" Ariana exclaimed but before she could finish, I had touched the badge. It zapped me and I felt myself flying across the room. I hit the wall with a loud thud and slid down to the ground.
"Sorry. I should have told you that before you touched it." Ariana mumbles quietly. She walks over and helps me climb back to my feet. "You alright."
I wasn't really. That was really painful but I wasn't about to tell her that. "I'm fine."
She smiled but she obviously knew I was lying.
"The badge picks you." She explained. She walked over to the shelf and I followed behind her. "If you hold your hand over each one, you see which one glows for you."
I placed my hand just over one of the closest badges. I felt the heat radiating off of it but it didn't change appearance. I moved to the next one... Then the next... And the next. None of them seem to glow for me. As I move my hand toward the next one in line, I see the one right near it glow slightly. I put my hand toward it and the closer I get, the brighter it glows. By the time I get my hand completely over the top, it was shining so bright that I have to turn my head to the side. The heat coming from it was boiling and it almost felt like my hand was going to melt. It was actually an uncomfortable heat and I could feel my hand toasting from the inside. I reached forward and grabbed it. As soon as my hand met its surface, the immense glow and unbearable heat disappeared.
"And now it's yours... Forever." Ariana says.

For the next half hour, I continued to pick out all the things I needed for my training and then headed back to Dean's. As I walk through the door I am immediately greeted with a hug from Hailey.
"Why didn't you tell us about any of this before? What's going to happen to you? What's going to happen to us? Will we die? Will you d-"
"Hailey. It's ok. I'm going to get you out of this mess. You probably won't be able to see me anymore but you'll be safe." I reassured her.
"But they said you are going to die. I want to save you." She exclaimed.
I walked past her, trying to avoid answering her comment. Mitch and Jake were talking but Dean was nowhere to be seen. I ran through the kitchen and lounge room, searching frantically. I checked the bedroom and bathroom before running back out to the kitchen.
"He said he was going out to relax and get some fresh air." Jake explained before I could say anything.
I knew of only one place he would go to for relaxation.
"I'll be back later." I said and ran out the door.
"You can't leave-" Mark exclaimed but before he could finish, I had already run out the door, slamming it behind me. Once I was out on the street, I paused. I had no idea what I was meant to do from here. There was a road, but I hadn't seen a single car or bit of transport since I arrived there. With no other choice, I began running. My legs pumped underneath me as I sprinted. I had never been much of a runner, but this felt good... really good. I pushed my legs harder and harder, and I went faster and faster.

Suddenly, I felt something knock me from the side. It hit me so hard that I fell to the side, scraping any bare skin that I had on the road and rolling a few times over. The small gutter on the edge of the road stopped me from rolling over again. As soon as I hit it, a burning pain stung my shoulder. The figure that was standing on the road a second ago, had disappeared. A second later, he was behind me. He wrapped his four spiny, long fingers around my neck and lifted me up. Before I knew what was happening, our surroundings had changed and he was now pinning me to a tree, still with his hands around my neck.
"Humans shouldn't be here!" He yelled, "All they bring is destruction and death and pain! They will make us all suffer!"
I could now see his face. His mouth was pressed into a thin line. His face was flat where his nose should be and his eyes were large and bulging. They had no colour though- they were deep, black holes of nothingness. His ears were nothing but holes on the sides of his bald head and his skin was a strange tone of orange.
I was now gasping for air. I kicked at him and threw my hands around, clawing at his arms... face... chest. Nothing worked. I tried breathing in a deep breath but it was useless. His hands were so tightly around my neck that it felt like he was about to crush my spine.

With one last desperate attempt, I pulled both legs up to my chest and then pushed them, with all the force I could muster, into his chest. He doubled over in pain and all the air must have flown from his lungs because he was desperately gasping for air. As soon as he was off of me, I fell to the ground and took in great big gulps of air. I rubbed my neck where his hands were. I could feel, just by touching it that it was badly bruised. Now ignoring the pain in my neck and shoulder, I ran back to the street until I reached the portal.