The Dawn of Eclipse

Chapter 4

Aaron grunts as he unloads another pack of kindling onto his make-shift campsite. It has been more than two days past his acquaintance of the girl. He sits on the log and thinks to himself, staring at the fire. He didn't want to injure his hand again, so he had decided to manually create a fire by abrading two sticks together. A method that had taken him hours. The entire time he thought. Meditated almost. How rude. She still didn't tell me her name.

As he sits by the fire, he tries to review the spells that he had been assigned before he left. Magic never sleeps. In lingua mea raptores atra in nebula. He creates a loop with his fingers and blows into it. Nothing happens. He had seen his master preform magic before. He simply had to think it, and it would happen. If it was truly a complicated spell, he might have had to whisper it. The only time he needed tools, potions, and chanting was on spells that Aaron had never seen before. They were apparently too dangerous to have someone nearby that knew nothing of the arts. That is why Ellis had always prefered to live outside of Telshic.

Again and again, Aaron repeats the spell in his mind. But again and again, he only becomes more and more frustrated. He jumps to his toes and kicks over a bucket next to him and barks, "In lingua mea raptores atra in nebula!" He huffs into his hand and waits. Nothing happens. He stomps on the bucket, throwing a fit, before he realizes that dark smoke was coming out of his hand. He inhales and cups the hand to his mouth before exhaling. He smiles and is pleased when he observes a dark mist cloud float out of his palm and drift onto the floor before it vanishes.

He sits back onto the fallen tree log, when he sees the embers floating around the fire. His small rage scene had knocked over his bucket of water and some of it had gotten into the fire. After sitting the bucket back up, he looks down at the dying cinders. An idea strikes.

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He waits for the skies to turn to nightfall, before executing his plan. This is so everything will be able to be seen at full affect. He channels the fear of not being able to return to the place he calls home, for not completing the mission. Through that, he snapped his fingers, and a trail of fire flittered on his finger tips. It was time for his plan to be put into action.

The animals nearby grew restless. The smell of smoke diffused into the air surrounding the forest. Within minutes, that was the only scent in the air. The animals bolted out of the forest, causing stampedes to awaken and swarms of birds to take flight, darkening the already poorly-lit canvas of night. The girl was awake.

Her eyes seemed perfectly adapted to the colorless night. Her pupils were dilated, just enough to take a little bit more light than most creatures. This wasn't natural or a gift. She had the magical talent of bending visible light and colors to her will. It was because of this skill that she was able to dodge trees and continue running without fear of tripping in clouded night's rush.

From behind some untouched trees, the girl hide. She was up the hill from Aaron, who was scorching the plants and earth. Her eyes, wide in disbelief, no longer needed the aid of magic to see. The rage of the flames consuming her home was bright enough to illuminate everything nearby.

"What are you doing?! Stop it!" Her screams are pleas of desperation. Every second that this conflagration pursued was a dozen homes destroyed. She fell on her knees before the flames that seemed to be mocking her. One final time she chokes through the smoke, "Please! Stop it! I'll talk, I'll talk."

Aaron is someone else at this point. Whenever magic runs through his veins, it corrupts him. It is now largely the magic that is in control. He laughs boom, as he turns around to face the girl. His eyes are soulless and completely black like the night. He grins mischievously, "I'm afraid I'm gonna need more than that, missy. You're going to have to be my prisoner."