Chosen

Escape

“The Abraxa’s,” he said softly, “are creatures that seek fear out of their opponents and use it against them. It’s the eyes, the eyes that seem to seek out your sole and find what you fear most. Never look into them. It’s almost impossible to kill an Abraxa; their made from dark magic…”

“Magic?” I ask, suddenly realizing that things were about to change drastically.

He held up a hand for me to be silent and then continued, “Dark magic that can’t be killed by mere sword or arrow. Just then, I did not kill that Abraxa, but I summoned light into its body and I’m sure it didn’t like that to well. They are extinct in Juvalin, only about five or six are left, or that I know of anyway.

“Have you heard of ancient magic before now?”

“I’ve heard that it’s nothing but a myth. There’s no truth to it.”

“But you’ve heard the stories? Are you saying you don’t believe any of it?”

“What stories? The ones about the fight against Lorsan? King Durian was short on men so he used his magicians to hold them off for a short while. He should have known better than to think he would have had a chance against a good thousand men. Actually, things would have been better for him if he'd just surrendered. Even the magicians weren’t enough to hold that many people off.… what about it?” I wasn't sure why I was ranting about this, I wasn't even sure if that was how the story went. Then, remembering his original question I murmur, “No, I don’t believe it.”

A strange look crosses Sora’s face, almost sadness, and then it disappears within just a few seconds. Sora scratched his chin thoughtfully, “There’s more to it than that. What if I told you that it was all true; believe it or not, magic exists.”

“I don’t believe you.” But I did believe him, how else could a light shoot out of an arrow like that, I hadn’t just imagined it. He knew it too because he stood and raised an eyebrow as if to ask, 'really?'.

“Would you like me to prove it to you?”  I nod, even though I didn’t really want him to. I already had proof, but something inside me wanted to see it again.

Sora cocks his head one way, frowning, and then he holds out his hand so that I can see it. There was nothing strange about his hand, and I scowl, wondering what he was getting at. I was about to ask him what he was doing when all of a sudden he murmurs something under his breath and a small flame appears in his palm. I jump back in surprise and gap at him, “How did you do that?”

He smiles at my question, but doesn’t answer it. Then he stops and shakes his hand, laughing softly to himself. It was obvious that he was enjoying himself. “I told you.”

“Show me how you did that.”

I was disappointed when Sora shakes his head, “Magic isn’t just some sort of game, and it’s not something you can just fool around with. Before you start trying to do magic, you need to know the rules first.” He says sternly.

I frown, “What rules?”

Sora stretches and for a moment I thought he was going to say something like, ‘I’ll tell you tomorrow’, but then he says, “I can’t stress this enough… know your weakness, if you’re not strong enough to cast a spell it’s only going to use up your strength. It’s a hard thing to do,  especially in the heat of battle. But if you misjudge it could be disastrous. Once you cast a spell, there’s no going back. If worse comes to worse, it could kill you. Most importantly, never cast a spell to bring someone back to life… it’s forbidden.”

“Forbidden? What would happen?”

He shrugs, “Probably die… Look, magic is a tricky thing, if you’re not ready for something, don’t do it” He pauses for a moment, and then he says, “Those are the main rules.” He finished, looking up at the ceiling of the cave.