After Iyl had left and he had finished burying the body of his master, Teraem, the former apprentice found himself staring at the vast tree in the courtyard of the castle that the Archmage had made his home. He had watched it grow throughout his apprenticeship under his master and having learned what the man had intended and why he had taught him with such zeal, he now understood the comparison that Teraem had made between himself and the great oak all those years ago.
At first the realization had brought a small smile to his features, but now with his master gone and only the man's memories, power, and his own memories of him remaining, he found the thought sad. After several long minutes, which to him felt like hours, Lacain turned from the tree, jaw set, and headed for his master's study.
It was time he disposed of the man's efforts as he had been instructed.
There would be terrible fires that night.
A confused look resided on Iylma'tria's face. She couldn't completely comprehend what she had seen in her childhood friend moments before. He looked the same, but somehow... different. She just couldn't put her finger on what had changed. What had he gone through? Teraem, a man that they had both loved, and idolized in their own, unique ways was gone from this world. He would never be coming back, and she didn't know if she could truly deal with the loss in a proper manner.
As she meandered down the dirt road from the university Lacain now inhabited in the stead of his master, her mind wandered to memories of her childhood.
There was a time when Teraem had taken her in, and Lacain had started teaching her small things he'd been learning from his teacher. She would later come to know those things to be "True Magic." They were little things, slight levitation, listening to the mana around them, and speaking to a singular type of spirit. She was just a child then, and she had been trying to find herself in ways that she was unable to do in the order she had been raised in. So, for a year and a half she had travelled around the continent. It was in those travels that she found herself on Teraem's doorstep.
Though he had only taken her in for a week, she welcomed what he offered.
Later in life she would come back and visit him on a more regular basis, finding that she was able to learn more from him than he had allowed in years prior.
However, today, Teraem's spirit had returned to the world. She would no longer be able to come to him when she was in need of direction, or advice. She hadn't even gotten the chance to tell him she'd finally left the Order of Asiridal for good. She was free. And he was gone.
As she reached the end of the road she felt a liquid warmth rolling down her cheeks. Absently, she raised a hand to touch her face, only to find that she was crying. She hadn't even realized. But, as the realization dawned on her, and her mind caught up with her body a small choked sob ripped from her chest, and Iyl clutched her chest as if it were the only way to keep her heart from leaving her body.
It was all she could do to keep herself standing.
What followed was a sharp crack and a rolling thunderous roar as if thousands of bolts of lightning had struck all in one moment. Even with her back turned to the fortress she would see the brilliant purple light followed by furious shifting reds and oranges.
Fire was engulfing portions of the castle, and spreading throughout.
Before any action could be taken on her part, there was another crack, far less thunderous than the previous, and Lacain snapped into being only two meters from her person. His jaw still set and his oddly shining brown eyes hard, but not cold, the boy, turned man, met her eyes. "No loss of life will result of the fire aside from those who go willingly with the rest of Teraem's work," he said, as if answering a question. A frown, for just a moment, flitted across his features before vanishing again behind a mask he held not to fool her, but himself.
While the death of his master, to which he considered himself complicit, had not struck him as it had his dearest friend--if that was all she was--it had nonetheless touched him. However, there were things to do and he did not yet think himself deserving of the time he needed to grieve. First he would fulfill his master's last requests...then, then he would let his tears fall.
Iyl's odd colored eyes stared in bewilderment at her friend, tears still dripping from her chin. "Why? Why are you destroying his work? His home? I don't understand?" Her voice was broken, her speech fragmented and yet faster than she typically spoke. Her mind couldn't process what he was telling her.
She moved without thinking toward the man, until her forehead hit his chest her hands at her sides, eyes closed. She was still sobbing, but it was as though she could not muster the effort to hit him as another in her situation might have. Instead, she was using his stature and stance to keep herself vertical.
At first the realization had brought a small smile to his features, but now with his master gone and only the man's memories, power, and his own memories of him remaining, he found the thought sad. After several long minutes, which to him felt like hours, Lacain turned from the tree, jaw set, and headed for his master's study.
It was time he disposed of the man's efforts as he had been instructed.
There would be terrible fires that night.
A confused look resided on Iylma'tria's face. She couldn't completely comprehend what she had seen in her childhood friend moments before. He looked the same, but somehow... different. She just couldn't put her finger on what had changed. What had he gone through? Teraem, a man that they had both loved, and idolized in their own, unique ways was gone from this world. He would never be coming back, and she didn't know if she could truly deal with the loss in a proper manner.
As she meandered down the dirt road from the university Lacain now inhabited in the stead of his master, her mind wandered to memories of her childhood.
There was a time when Teraem had taken her in, and Lacain had started teaching her small things he'd been learning from his teacher. She would later come to know those things to be "True Magic." They were little things, slight levitation, listening to the mana around them, and speaking to a singular type of spirit. She was just a child then, and she had been trying to find herself in ways that she was unable to do in the order she had been raised in. So, for a year and a half she had travelled around the continent. It was in those travels that she found herself on Teraem's doorstep.
Though he had only taken her in for a week, she welcomed what he offered.
Later in life she would come back and visit him on a more regular basis, finding that she was able to learn more from him than he had allowed in years prior.
However, today, Teraem's spirit had returned to the world. She would no longer be able to come to him when she was in need of direction, or advice. She hadn't even gotten the chance to tell him she'd finally left the Order of Asiridal for good. She was free. And he was gone.
As she reached the end of the road she felt a liquid warmth rolling down her cheeks. Absently, she raised a hand to touch her face, only to find that she was crying. She hadn't even realized. But, as the realization dawned on her, and her mind caught up with her body a small choked sob ripped from her chest, and Iyl clutched her chest as if it were the only way to keep her heart from leaving her body.
It was all she could do to keep herself standing.
What followed was a sharp crack and a rolling thunderous roar as if thousands of bolts of lightning had struck all in one moment. Even with her back turned to the fortress she would see the brilliant purple light followed by furious shifting reds and oranges.
Fire was engulfing portions of the castle, and spreading throughout.
Before any action could be taken on her part, there was another crack, far less thunderous than the previous, and Lacain snapped into being only two meters from her person. His jaw still set and his oddly shining brown eyes hard, but not cold, the boy, turned man, met her eyes. "No loss of life will result of the fire aside from those who go willingly with the rest of Teraem's work," he said, as if answering a question. A frown, for just a moment, flitted across his features before vanishing again behind a mask he held not to fool her, but himself.
While the death of his master, to which he considered himself complicit, had not struck him as it had his dearest friend--if that was all she was--it had nonetheless touched him. However, there were things to do and he did not yet think himself deserving of the time he needed to grieve. First he would fulfill his master's last requests...then, then he would let his tears fall.
Iyl's odd colored eyes stared in bewilderment at her friend, tears still dripping from her chin. "Why? Why are you destroying his work? His home? I don't understand?" Her voice was broken, her speech fragmented and yet faster than she typically spoke. Her mind couldn't process what he was telling her.
She moved without thinking toward the man, until her forehead hit his chest her hands at her sides, eyes closed. She was still sobbing, but it was as though she could not muster the effort to hit him as another in her situation might have. Instead, she was using his stature and stance to keep herself vertical.
