The Fire Sorceress

Chapter Twenty Four

Kai stopped by Poof and grabbed her waist. Poof yelped in surprise as he bent down and kissed her. It was beginning to get awkward when River snarled at him. Seto got up, his nose still slightly bruised but much better, and hurled a purple fireball at Kai. Kai saw it, let go of Poof and grappled a faraway tower with dark magic and swung away. Poof dodged just in time. "Sorry," Seto apologized gruffly.

We traveled into the tower we were on, which was coincidentally the one that Liz lived in. "I'll know if this is her door or not," Sora said confidently.

"Found it!" Poof squealed, pointing to a door that spelled in purple letters 'LIZ'.

"Or, y'know, we could do that," Sora muttered, walking in. "Liz?" She called.

"Sora?" Liz appeared in a shower of purple particles. "Wow, who are your friends?"

"This is Ember," Sora introduced me. I waved. "She has fire powers. This is Poof." Poof smiled innocently. "She has ice powers. This is River." River winked. "He has water powers. This is Dusty." Dusty grinned. "He has earth powers. And this is Seto." Seto dipped his head, his cloak shadowing his face. "He's an Ender Sorcerer."

"Seto?" Liz's voice had fallen to a whisper. "You...you left the colony...I thought...we were betrothed..."

"Liz," Seto held up a hand. "I left the colony because I had to. My father is a monster."

"Wait," I asked. "When did you leave the 'colony'?"

Seto sighed. "Let me tell you the story..."

•~•

It was a cold, snowy night in the Endear Forest. Everyone knew that this forest was the turf of powerful colonies of sorcerers. By far the most feared was the Endizimo Clan, full of ruthless warriors and skilled mages. Their leader was a fearless, dark-haired man named Seylum, going by Ramozano Endizimo or just Bladeswinger, who always wore a cloak of gray wolf fur, his cowl pulled up and shrouding his face in darkness. He had a son named Seto, whom was a more...traditional sorcerer, not killing anyone with his magic, but learning from it.

"Son," Ramozano said one day. "You're nearly fifteen years old. You are going to be named a true sorcerer at tonight's bonfire."

Seto peered at his father through his books. "Hmm..." He shut his book and walked off, thinking.

"Eek!" someone screeched. Seto lurched back into reality and saw that he had walked into someone while he was thinking. Lightning fast, he caught her before she hit the ground. It was Eliza, who happened to be his planned wife.

A princess from a smaller, but deadly clan, Eliza was someone he felt challenged by. Seto had caught her single-handed on his pre-assessment hunt. His father was very proud, and as soon as Bladeswinger had noticed she was a princess, he declared her Seto's wife-to-be. "Out of my way."

He set her back on her feet and briskly walked away. "Wait!" She called, racing after him. She was nearly as tall as he was, so caught up easily. "Why leave so soon?"

"My father wanted me to go on an errand; he needs it done pronto," Seto lied. He whisked past her and into the deep woods before she could protest. He sat on a log and thought, flipping through pages of his biographies. Suddenly he stopped. He read through one and made a strange expression, half-grimace, half-grin. He closed the book with a snap and walked back to camp.