Elementalists: The Pyromancer

Part 4

By sunset the next day, Asher was on his way to the village square where the festival was being held. His festival. For the hundredth time, Asher produced a small flame in his hand, making sure this wasn't all some elaborate dream. He was no longer Asher the loser. Asher the mistake. No. Now he was Asher the Elementalist. The sight infront of him pulled him away from his thoughts. Everyone from the village was there. Baskets of food were being offered, drummers and dancers were performing, and everyone was there to honor the new Elementalist. For the next couple of hours, Asher laughed and joked with people he barely knew, ate fantastic food, and engulfed himself with the crowd. He noticed that many girls were asking to dance with him. He was more than happy to accept their offers. As Asher was about to go seek out for another dance partner, he was tapped on the back. Asher turned around to see his brother Zeo. Zeo was the head warrior in the village. He was well built and all he had to do was wink girls to get them to faint. He had a strong, calm personality. A hut could be on fire and he wouldn't hesitate to run in to check for survivors. He would calm down their father whenever he would rage. Zeo was Asher's hero and the only family he had that was there for him.

"Hello little brother." He said. The two of them embraced for a second letting all of the unspoken words flow between them.

"So much has changed since yesterday morning." Asher said.

"For the better I hope." Zeo responded. "Listen Asher, there is something important I must tell you."

"About what?" Asher asked.

"Mother." Zeo answered. Asher let out a small gasp of surprise.

"What about her?" he asked eagerly. Asher's mother had died at his birth and he was never allowed to ask about her.

"Listen now, you need to know that..." Zeo started, but was then interrupted by a loud voice.

"Welcome to tonight's celebration in honor of this special occasion." Kanen announced to the crowd. "I am very proud to introduce you to the latest Elementalist!" at that moment all of the torches blew out. A cool breeze went through the crowd as everyone looked at each other in confusion.

"I am very flattered that you gave me such a pleasant introduction." said a voice. The crowd parted to see a man that looked to be be in his fifties. His skin was pale. Deathly pale. He had long gray hair that went down to his waist; silver eyes that shone in the moonlight. He was tall and walked with authority. "Truly, you didn't have to go through all of this trouble for me." Zeo was the first one to break out of the trance everyone was in and stepped forward.

He yelled, "Who are you and what business do you have here?" The man let out a maniacal laugh that sent chills through everyone's blood.

"My name is Necros. Now step aside, child." He said with menace in his voice.

Zeo produced a dagger from his belt and said, "I won't move if you plan on hurting anyone here."

"I'm going to tell you one more time. Step aside or you may regret it." Necros threatened. He didn't even seem worried about the blade pointed at him. Zeo stood firm and took a fighting stance.

"What a shame." Necros said. At that moment, the earth began to shake. Behind him, the ground split open and figures crawled out from the crack. To everyone's disbelief, they seemed to be skeletons. And they were armed. The creatures rose and stood behind Necros. There seemed to be about 30 of them. Necros made a signal with his hand and three of them stepped forward.

"The boy." He said. The skeletons turned towards Zeo and ran to him. There wasn't much he could do against these unearthed creatures. They felt no pain, were freakishly strong, and worse of all, weren't afraid of death. The three of them hauled Zeo in front of Necros and turned him to face the rest of the village. Two of them held the warriors arms behind his back while he knelt. The third stood at his side holding Zeo's blade.