Electric Bonds

Chapter 2 - A Blood Mage?

Upon entering the room, Loranya immediately became aware of another presence.

Suddenly, a figure in the corner made her jump. He was tall and very pale indeed. He had a smooth face and a squared jaw that made him look quite handsome and his hair was a strange colour, almost silver, but he didn't look old at all.

When he locked eyes with Loranya, he smiled politely, but the young woman could hardly tear her gaze away from his hypnotic grey eyes.

"This is Raynon" Zarratha says. "He is a blood mage and a very good friend of mine"

Raynon held the polite smile as he stepped forward and nodded.

He wore a long-sleeved shirt and trousers with thick black boots up to his knee. He wasn't wearing gloves, but Loranya knew most blood mages did in order to protect themselves from thier own magic.

"It's an honour to meet you" Raynon said.

Loranya was instantly curious about him. She'd heard of the undead sorcerers, some evil, some good, even some who'd switched sides.

However, she had heard that because they were niether human nor living, they were incapable of feeling any sort of emotion.

"Please, sit" Zarratha said.

The five of them took their seats at the table, Lady Zarratha at the head, Garrod and Raynon on one side and Kretnya and Loranya on the other.

"What is it you wish to know?" Zarratha asked.

"Do you know if there's a specific way to defeat the Astral Tyrant?" Kretnya inquired.

"She can only be vanquished once all of her servants are defeated" Zarratha said. "By doing this, you will free the realms from her puppet rulers and the power she gains from the lands will be lost"

"What sort of power does she gain from the four realms?" Loranya asked.

"She gains the power of the elements" Zarratha explained. "With each life she takes, with each soul she tortures, she grows in power, soaking up the elemental energy"

"Wow..." Loranya muttered.

"No, Loranya, it's not 'wow' at all" Kretnya told her. "It's bad because you can barely control your earth manipulation"

Loranya looked at her feet, knowing that Kretnya was right. She couldn't control her powers and whenever she was angry, she'd start an mini earthquake, or if she was happy, rocks and debris would be caught up in spiralling, excitable tornadoes around her.

Having learned the art of telepathy from Lady Zarratha, Raynon was able to read Loranya's thoughts.

'I can't believe how much I hate my own sister. I've never done anything to her and all she does is tell me what a disappointment I am, or how feeble I am. She forgets that after father died, I had to milk four ill-tempered cows, walk to the other side of the village to wash all the clothes, chop the firewood, ride the feisty little holy terror we called a donkey to the well to collect the water, cook all the meals and wash the plates. When I die at some point during this quest, she's going to miss having me as a servant'

"We know little of her figurehead in this realm" Zarratha informed them.

However, before she could continue, Loranya said; "I heard it was the great bear lord, Sirryon"

There was a silence as Lady Zarratha closed her eyes and a grave expression passed over her. "You heard right" She confirmed. "He was drawn in by her promises of power and land. He is far stronger than any human. To take him on in hand-to-hand combat would be an acceptance of death"

Kretnya turned to Loranya. "This is why your training is so important. You need to defeat this foe with more than just your unbelievably good serendipity" Kretnya stood. "I'm going to the blacksmith's to enquire about some long range weapons. Thank you for your time, Lady Zarratha"

With that, the warrior strode out of the door.