Infused with Darkness

Chapter 10

Zuwha looked nervously at Vespana. After a while of complete silence, he finally dared to speak up. 'What do you think they'll do to us? Will Roshiro be alright?'

'I.. I don't know.' She stared at the ground, her golden eyes glowing faintly. 'I made us go there.. if he's dead, it's my fault.'

'We didn't know that this would happen. What even happened?' Zuwha asked as he sat down on his bed, with his back against the cold wall. He couldn't grasp what happened. Roshiro acted weird and then suddenly his eyes were full black as he attacked Vespana and Zuwha. Why had he done that? And those eyes.. they still haunted him. Zuwha shivered, and it wasn't because of the cold.

Vespana sat down on her bed as well, shrugging while staring at the flame of the candle that lit up their room instead of the ground. The flames danced in her eyes. 'I wish I knew. I've never seen anything like this before, even at home.'

The two of them sat in silence for a while, the only sounds being of people talking outside and the occasional screech of a bird, the roar of another beast. Zuwha looked at Roshiro's empty bed, remembering how innocent the green-eyed boy had looked. He kind of felt bad now, since he had also made Roshiro go into the forest. He just hoped the boy was alright.

Zuwha looked up when he heard the door open. The magister stood there, the red drawings on his shoulder pads glowing brightly. His face didn't betray any emotions, nor did his eyes. 'Come with me.'

Vespana and Zuwha did nothing besides staring at the man. Zuwha hadn't noticed before, but the man's hair was dark brown, so dark it might as well have been black. His eyes were dark as well, but still emotionless.

'Did you two not hear me?' he asked, looking down at the two. Zuwha scrambled up and so did the elf, glancing at eachother nervously. His stomach churned in fear. Would he punish them for going into the forest alone?

The magister walked out, Zuwha and Vespana following behind him. They didn't dare speak up as they walked through the barrack's corridor. The mage stopped at one of the doors and opened it to reveal a very small room with shelves stacked with cleaning things. There were a few brooms, brushes and cloths, as well as other unknown things on the shelves.

'Get in,' he gestured at the closet. Vespana and Zuwha once again glanced at eachother, frowning, but they got in nonetheless. Zuwha trembled slightly. What if the magister killed him for this mistake? Or hurt him?

The man followed the two inside, closing the door behind him. He noticed something glowing in the magister's hand as the entire room filled with smoke. Zuwha gulped and held his breath until he couldn't hold it anymore. He gasped for air, but the smoke didn't burn in his throat or make him cough. Somehow, it was safe to breathe it.

The magister cleared his throat. 'I'm going to show you why you're here. We have a purpose. Vespana, we saved you because we think elves are supposed to be free.' Light lit up the smoke, showing figures dancing around trees, others running in a forest, all smiling happily.

'We saved you because you have potential. You shouldn't be here-' The light changed again, this time showing a figure in a cage, with other figures walking around it, with more cages in the background. 'You should be here.' The smoke once again showed the figures dancing in the forest, this time with light swirling all around them.

Zuwha was mesmerised by the lights. It showed the story so well, he just couldn't look away. The magister's voice was so nice to listen to as well, he could still hear him speaking despite being distracted by the lights. It was amazing.

'And you, Zuwha. Without us, you would've been dead.' There was another image, this time of a figure bound to a pole, mouth open in a silent scream as flames licked at their body. Zuwha cringed and wanted to look away, but he couldn't. To his relief, the light changed again, this time showing figures flying on huge birds and hugging one of those huge turtles. 'You can be one of them, and you will. You'll have your own creature to take care of. Both of you, alive and well.'

The light changed once again, now showing a big, dark outline of a person with a red background and glowing crimson eyes. The image scared Zuwha a little bit. 'But there is one problem. Daskil, the god of darkness and magic, has a thing against us. We mages must stand strong and destroy him, together. But we need you for that.'

The light changed to different shades of blue, revealing a feminine figure, towering over the black one with red eyes. A huge wave formed behind her, ready to crash into the black one. 'We'll summon another god, but to do that, we need certain things. There are five things all over the world. It'll take a few years before we can locate them all, and when that time comes, it's your turn to help save us.'

'Become strong, strong enough to help us. Together, we are stronger,' the magister finished. The smoke dissipated and the lights dimmed. Zuwha was completely silent, still amazed by what just happened. It sounded awesome but frightening at the same time. Being at war with a god? Summoning another? Aren't gods always bad news?

He glanced at Vespana, whose eyes glowed in the dark. Unlike him, she didn't seem even slightly scared at what hat just been told. Zuwha couldn't see much of her facial features, but she seemed excited.

The magister opened the door and candlelight fell in. Zuwha blinked a few times, not used to the light after being in the dark closet. The magister stepped out, gesturing for Zuwha and Vespana to do the same. Once outside, Zuwha shivered slightly. The corridor was cold as always.

'Where's Roshiro?' Vespana asked, looking at the magister with a hopeful look in her eyes. Zuwha looked at the man too, hoping to get an answer, a validation that Roshiro was alright.

'He's back in your room. Try not to rush him,' the mage replied as he turned around and walked off. 'Do remember, if you go in that forest one more time without permission, there will be consequences.'

Zuwha and the elf watched the magister leave, the words sinking. Then they looked at eachother for a moment, silently contemplating what to do. Vespana spoke up first. 'Let's go check on Roshi.'

Zuwha nodded and together they walked back to their room. Vespana hesitated before opening the door. After a moment she still did so and stepped inside, followed by Zuwha. The first thing he noticed was Roshiro sitting on his bed in the right corner. He had his back against the wall and was staring ahead with an empty look in his normally so lively green eyes.

Vespana moved closer and sat down on the edge of her bed, putting her hand on Roshiro's leg. 'Hey, are you in there?'

Roshiro looked at Vespana, but it seemed that he didn't see her. He looked past her, not at her. He blinked a few times and he finally realised they were in the room, the empty look vanishing from his eyes. He looked around, confused.  'How'd I get here? The last thing I remember, we were in the forest..'

Zuwha thought that he saw Roshiro's eyes become a shade darker, but then just figured he'd imagined it. Vespana sighed. 'We don't know what happened either. You went crazy and attacked us.'

The boy frowned. 'I'd never attack you. Why did I do that?'

'We don't know, and I guess we never will.. let's just hope it doesn't happen again.'

'Yeah,' Roshiro muttered softly. Zuwha nodded in agreement. He hoped that it'd never happen again too. Those fully black eyes still haunted him, despite it being a few hours ago now. Zuwha shivered and sat on his bed too, after watching the entire conversation while standing in the door.

'That man said these mages were strong, right? They can keep us safe..' Zuwha said softly. He'd always thought that strong people could protect him and his family. His family was gone now, and the strong leader he was used to was ready to kill him, but the people here seemed to be strong too. He wanted to become like them, so that he could protect his friends in turn.

'Yeah, they are strong,' Vespana replied, nodding. Zuwha nodded in reply, deciding to become strong like them, or even stronger. To keep himself and the others safe. Magic might be dangerous, but if it was useful and could save lives, he might as well use it. And he would.

-={Author's Note}=-

Gods, this chapter was a real struggle to write.. What do you think of the story so far?

Anyhow! Merry one-day-late Christmas and a premature happy new year. Any new year's resolutions? Tell me in the comments ^-^

See ya next update!