Thief of Twilight

Part Three: Chapter 80

"Are you ready?"

I walked up to the main gate. I had lunch with Seong-ja the other day and told her that I would be doing a bit of physical activity for the time being. She seemed eager to take on the task and repaired my outfit from when I tried to run away with Lord Baldwin at the end of spring. She told me that she will have a few outfits for me in a couple of days.

"Today, we are running."

"Running?" I asked. "Where are we running to?"

"We are going to run until I decide to stop."

"What!"

"Let's go." he gestured for the guards to open the front gates. They looked at one another before opening the gates of the palace.

"Please be safe, Lady Abedayo."

"Please be careful, Lady Abedayo."

"I will be." I smiled at them.

"Let's go." Sinopia ran ahead without giving me time to catch up. I'm surprised to see that I am not too out of shape when it comes to physical exercise. Or so I thought. Once we ran through the city gates, I found myself gasping for air.

"S-Sinopia..." I wheezed. "I need to take a break."

"No, we must keep running. You are going to need this."

"Wh-What?"

"Running will build your stamina. It will help repair your core."

How is he running so effortlessly? Does he run every morning? What the fuck is his deal? What the fuck is he? We ran through the trees of the forest only hearing our feet crunching on the grass. Something about this feels exhilarating. Running through the early morning. Feeling the cool summer air on my skin. Feeling the power of the moon. Seeing Sinopia's rich orange hair glowing in the darkness.

He slowed to a stop before holding out his hand. "We can walk from here."

I followed him through the trees until we came to a shallow pool surrounded by lush green grass.

Sinopia knelt down by the pool and scooped water into his mouth.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"This is one of a few secret places in Sincheon." he said. "Have a seat."

I looked up to see the moon high in the sky. I wonder when morning will come. Taking a seat on the grass, I noticed Sinopia taking a seat next to me.

"Do you know how to use your magic?" he asked.

"Like...lunar spells?"

Sinopia furrowed his brows. "What...are you talking about?"

"You're talking about spells right?"

"Why would you need to cast spells?" he asked.

"Well...don't I?" I asked. "I mean, isn't that what you mean?"

"Zurine, we don't need spells to use our magic." he sighed. "Wh-Who taught you how to cast lunar spells? What wizard or sorcerer trained you so poorly?"

"Some guy when I was a kid." I said.

"What a fool." he sighed. "You don't need to cast spells."

"Why not?"

"Spells are phrases that humans use to channel magic from the elemental forces." he explained. "Of course, not all magic requires phrases but a majority of powerful spells do."

"I don't get it..." I said. "Elemental forces?"

"Mages are blessed by an element upon birth. Of course, if your parents are let's say earth mages, then you and your descendents will be earth mages as well. The only way there would be a chance of you not being an earth mage is if your other parent was a water mage or something like that. Then your magic would take after one of your parents or you could use both." he explained. "But we do not have to do that. We don't need to change incantations or spells to use complex attacks. We channel our magic from the moon itself. For us, it's second nature." he snapped his finger, creating a single flame to appear at his fingertips. "We can just create what we want at will."