Prophecy of Power: Quarry

Chapter 2

Elias opened his eyes to find his hair across his face and the breeze ruffling it. Everything hurt. He groaned. The air stank of burned wood and lightning. Gingerly, he sat up and wiped cold perspiration and pine needles from his face. The tree behind him still smoked, its side charred, and several coin-sized patches of glazed rock glowed around him.

He considered calling to Allyn, but Allyn couldn't have anticipated what just happened and wouldn't be able to do anything now anyway. Elias lifted his battered senses to the sky, but there was too much magical resonance to detect anything. He couldn't even sense Quala Umitha now. Hopefully it had withdrawn back into the Higher Realm where it belonged.

His head pounded, the pain threatening to become a grandfather of a headache. As best he could he focused on finding whatever was attracting Quala Umitha. He sent another net out, this time fully warded against a backlash. He found the strange energy again, and after careful study realised it was slightly stronger where the humans were, though still spread wide and difficult to centre on.

"You idiot, Elias," he muttered to himself. He finally recognised an unconscious energy dispersal, the only defence a latent sorcerer had to keep their powers from building to something dangerous. Such a simple thing to discover. "When looking for it," he muttered. He released his net, running his fingers through his hair as the implications sank in. Was this what Allyn wanted him to discover? Did Allyn realise the dispersal was drawing Quala Umitha? He shivered at the implications. The Gods were keeping an eye on someone down there. The significance of it so close to noramgaell was unsettling. No wonder he'd sensed something wrong.

More intriguing was that the power had to come from a human. Which one? The Gods were definitely rolling their dice. No human had that much power. They'd lost their magic when they'd lost their immortality, or so the legends went.

Elias pushed dark brown hair from his face and carefully stood. He walked to the cliff edge, his hand unconsciously rubbing at the hint of stubble on his chin. He turned his turned against the wind in an attempt to catch any conversation from the humans, but it was impossible. They were much too far away.

He picked up his longbow and followed Allyn's barely discernible tracks to a sheltered copse of trees, the wind there hardly strong enough to tousle his hair.

"Lesson learned I see," Allyn said. "Setting wards against unexpected surges isn't such an issue anymore, I take it?" Despite the harsh words, Elias saw relief in the sorcerer's eyes.

"You knew," he accused. "There's a human down there with a destiny to stir Quala Umitha. What the seers said about noramgaell - it's true. I saw it! War is coming!"

A rune-carved ghostwood staff lay on the ground beside their packs. Allyn casually picked it up as he stood, but Elias read suppressed excitement. He should have taken more notice of his teacher. Another lesson learned.

"I feel the potential for power, Elias. With training, someone in that party could be very powerful."

"That's... It can't be! A human?"

Childlike eagerness coloured Allyn's youthful voice, making him seem as young as his features. "You took your time working it out. Even the Gods are taking an interest."

Elias ignored the insult, his headache getting worse. "We can't go after the latent," he said, forcing aside an urge to do just that. If they got caught up in that person's future... "The faspane are too close and they'll have noticed the magical resonance. They're sure to be aware of us now."

Quietly, Allyn asked, "Who said it's your choice?"

"I'm your student, not your slave, and my apprenticeship is nearly over. I could break your bond now." Elias stepped forward slightly, trying to use his height and size to crowd his teacher. Allyn, as expected, wasn't intimidated. He tried another tact. "We have work to do, remember?" He felt as if the Gods themselves were laughing at him, daring him to try and ignore the inevitable. The need to continue their mission fought against his own curiosity. Perhaps he was merely feeling a faspane call spell trying to draw him into a trap? That would explain his need to investigate, if not Quala Umitha's presence within the Middle Realm or the human with power.