Skobex's Return

Chapter 7

Christopher read all the books for the rest of the day and continued into the middle of the night, even when everyone else had retreated to their beds. In Helena's diary, he found evidence of a spell she used in her fight against Skobex. He decided it would be best to read through all the pages of the spell book to see if anything matched what he read in the diary.

It also didn't help that he could hear growls and other noises coming from outside. Chirstopher narrowed the sounds down to the Phantom Walkers that patrolled the town. He was worried to look outside to see how many had emerged from the ground and smoke.

'Can't sleep either?' Anastasia asked as she sat across from him at the table.

'Not even a wink.' Christopher replied.

They both remained silent as he kept flicking from page to page using his flashlight to illuminate the book.

'Listen, Christopher. Can I ask you something? Be honest.'

He looked up from the book. 'Yes, of course.'

'Are you worried? Maybe even scared?'

'I'll admit that I am scared. I usually do well when I'm thrown into a situation, but it never was like this.'

Christopher was terrified. He kept questioning himself and any choices he decided to make. He was constantly paranoid that he would do something wrong and make matters worse. He had to remove all the town's problems involving Skobex.

'Trust me, I know. I'm terrified. I've been worrying over the fate of Cinderash and everyone in it. Even you, Magic Boy.'

'I don't know if I like that name, Annie.'

'Did you just call me—'

'Yes. Names work both ways.' Christopher smiled.

'Please don't call me that. I promise not to call you Magic Boy.'

'Deal.'

They both let out a small laugh.

'How about we take a break for a little while? Talk about things other than the Lich.' Anastasia offered. 'Since I will probably never get to see the outside world, tell me about where you grew up.'

Christopher slid the thin diary between the pages in the spell book before closing it and looking at Anastasia.

'I grew up in Gardeaniour. It's a fairly small town compared to most of the other towns I've seen so far, slightly smaller than Cinderash. We grow a lot of produce to sell across the continent, our largest crop is Nightfern.'

'We have a small amount of Nightfern here.' Anastasia beamed. 'We must've received some before the curse was laid over the town.'

'I thought I smelled it when I first arrived. When I was younger, I used to help my mother with the gardening whilst my father was on patrol. My mother always said that when I helped, the plants seemed to grow faster.'

'Maybe that's true, since you know you're a sorcerer.'

'Possibly.'

'It looks like you didn't become a gardener by trade. What made you decide to explore?'

Christopher took a deep breath. 'As I got older I aspired to be like my father, like all the other boys my age. He was the head commander of our town's guard, always putting his life on the line to defend our town and the Oceanspire region. I had a number of lessons with both my father and with a local swordsman. We thought we lost him one time, and after those terrifying seven days I no longer wanted to follow my father's footsteps. It was from that time onwards that I pursued all means of becoming an explorer.'