Lian's face was blank as he worked the saddle off of Valkyrie's back. He didn't allow himself to think as he worked, because if he thought about anything, the last week of his life would catch up with him and he wasn't so sure he would survive it.
"It'll be interesting to learn about your magic, don't you think?" Fen asked, no doubt the wolf was keen to Lian's current mood. But that was alright. Lian was almost grateful for the attempt at conversation.
"Maybe. But it doesn't matter to me. All we need is control, nothing else."
"But to know how to control it, we need to know what it is." Fen insisted.
Lian didn't agree.
Mages by definition, were beings of power who had the ability to control magic.
Magic by definition, was the energies and forces running unseen throughout the world.
Lian remembered the lessons within his mother's old books. The history of how the first Mage in existence turned on human kind because the buzz of such power drove him crazy. Ley Lines, the books had all called them.
Their house had been filled with history books. He'd read countless tales about the Kingdom's humble beginnings, to the Kingdom's growth as a whole, then to the separation of one Kingdom into four, each ruled by a son of the original king, from there it was the rise of the very first Mage. A man by the name of Conrad who was the first human in this new land to be born on the ley line. His power was a great and overflowing force due to the potency of ley lines in those times.
The power was volatile though. As he grew older, the power began to sing in his veins, buzz in his ears and flow under his skin. He'd gone crazy with it. Drunk on it. He'd wanted control of the four Kingdoms, he believed everyone to be his property and so he hurt a lot of people. The King of Ketter, the eldest son and the largest Kingdom at the time had sent his best soldiers to capture Conrad or kill him.
Upon the soldier's march, Conrad had been enraged. He'd unleashed all of the magic he'd collected from the ley line all at once, determined to destroy the greatest King's greatest men. The backlash of such power ended up being his own demise, but it also gave birth to what would later be known as Darkin. Insane with the power of the ley line and physically changed by the magical will of Conrad the Wild, the King's greatest soldiers turned into beasts and demons.
Trolls were big and strong. Their skin as tough as metal and their strength unparalleled.
Vampires were hunters in the darkness. Beings who survive off the blood of the living. Fast and unusually strong.
Goblins were ugly little creatures with greenskin and unseeing eyes. They move by hearing and killed like tornadoes, out of their minds with no sense of self.
Ogres were giants with no minds left. Dumb and strong and always angry. They attacked without bias and never stopped until everyone was dead.
Wraths were evil beings who stole the soul right out of a person's body. The body would be fine, It would remain alive and working, but there would be nothing inside, zombies.
Werebeasts were wild beings, half human, half animal. Instincts like killers with a taste for raw human flesh.
And then there were the Elven. Elven had single handedly caused the most deaths during the First Darkin War. Humans in every way by appearance, but monsters underneath the surface. They manipulate and lead the other Darkin like generals of an army. Like sharks who swim among their prey until they are hungry enough to bite anything in their path. The other's at least look like monsters, but Elven kind was just as human as the people in the Kingdoms. Only they too, wield a different kind of Magic than Mages or Witches.
Lian knew the history better than his teacher. Violet.
"You look like you're deep in thought."
Lian turned around to see one of the twins at the door to the stables.
Lian couldn't help but think about his talk with Voniya at the stables back in Kilden.
"I've a lot to think about." He answered with a shrug of one shoulder.
"So it would seem."
Lian wasn't sure if this was Ashling or Keera. There wasn't the same tension in the air that accompanied Keera, but the woman had yet to smile. So Lian held off on coming to a conclusion.
"Can you tell me what happened?" The brightness of her red hair seemed to burn in the flames of the big wax candles lighting the room, but Lian's eyes were on the woman's jewel green ones. Keera? Lian wasn't sure, but it didn't feel like it was.
"What happened when?" Lian asked cautiously.
"When you lost control. When you came into your powers." It was spoken so matter-a-factly that Lian was leaning more towards Keera than Ashling. It didn't matter, he wasn't going to tell anyone who wasn't already there.
"I cannot." Lian went back to brushing Valkyrie down after he spoke, dismissing this twin no matter which one she was.
"Usually a Mage coming into their own causes a lot of back lash. Wild magic fluttering around causing damage. We didn't see any in the village, but they all looked at you like something happened." The woman was walking further into the room and Lian felt his body tense, ready for an attack.
"There was backlash." Lian said with a frown as he felt Fen bristle under his shirt.
"Don't tell her anything. We owe her no explanation." The beast snarled, and it was the first time Lian had heard him do that with any kind of real malice. Fen was picking up something that Lian wasn't.
"What's going on Fen?"
"She's attempting to push into your magic, she wants to see how powerful you are. You must not let anyone in." Fen sounded protective, Lian wasn't sure if it was of himself or just the magic in general, but it didn't matter in the long run. With a weary smile he sighed.
"You might want to stop doing whatever you're doing." He said.
He saw the woman stiffen from the edge of his vision.
"How did you-" she stopped herself before she admitted to anything, but she gave Lian a critical eye and suddenly Lian knew which twin it was.
"Keera wouldn't have given herself away." He said idly, still brushing the warhorse who'd claimed him as her's. Valkyrie's eyes were on Ashling now as the twin balled her fists in what Lian was sure was rage.
"I knew it." He thought to himself and Fen. "There's tension between her and her sister. They didn't seem all that close when we first met, the journey so far only reinforced the thought."
"Why do you think that is?"
"Hard to say. We're bound to find out sooner or later."
"Voniya's getting us a couple of rooms." Ashling said stiffly, then she turned on her heels and walked back out of the stables.
Lian almost felt bad for angering the woman, but she had been trying to pry into his magic, into his personal information.
"Maybe it would be beneficial to know how this 'magic' thing works." Lian acquiesced with a sinking feeling.
As Fen laughed, Lian reassured himself by reminding them both that this was just a means to reaching his goal. He wasn't going to become one of the Counsel's Mages, he would become a Warrior.
Or he'd die trying.
"Goodnight, Valkyrie." Lian murmured quietly to the battle charger.
When he made his way out of the stables, he was surprised to find Lybell leaning against the side of it.
The moment Lybell spotted him and began making his way over, Lian stiffened, his body's balance shifting to a position better suited for a fight.
He wasn't expecting to be hit by words.
"You ride well."
The tone was odd and difficult to place, but Lian knew what this situation was. Lybell was extending him a short and sour apology.
"My father taught me the moment I'd learned to run." Lian admitted, still prepared in case of a fight.
"General Allan Fury, correct?" Lybell asked.
It actually threw Lian for a loop to hear his father's name come out of Lybell's usually sneering mouth.
"Yes." Lian said cautiously, completely off his guard now. "How do you know of my father."
In seconds the classic sneer was back on Lybell's face and he looked at Lian like he'd look at the shit stuck under his boot.
"Every Mages worth his salt knows of your father. To be the first human Familiar." Lybell scoffed.
Lian's temper flared but he was quick to rein it in. Fenrir's presence on the skin of his chest also helped to calm him. How had the Mages known? His mother had said they believed her to be dead. It didn't matter now though, he wasn't about to ask Lybell.
"Guardian." Lian said.
"What?"
"I believe they would prefer to be called Guardians." Lian explained.
Lybell's sneer died away but confusion was quick to replace it. "Where did you hear that?"
"Fenrir calls himself and the others like him Guardians. They protect us from more than just our own magic. A Familiar is a tool. A Guardian is a companion."
"I...Lian, I didn't think-" Fenrir couldn't finish the sentence but Lian understood the gratitude that flowed through the bond connecting them.
Lybell's face went through yet another change, but this time, Lian couldn't understand what it meant.
"Calls himself? Familiars cannot speak, boy." Lybell's voice was tight, an edge to it that hadn't been before.
Lian on the other hand, was confused.
"Yes, they can. It is how Fenrir and I communicate."
The older man's eyes widened briefly before narrowing. His fists clenched and his posture stiffed. Rancor was clear in every line of his body and Lian felt like this time, a blow would surely be coming.
"You lie." The man hissed. Lybell was angry to an extent Lian had not seen from him before. Always annoyed and more than a bit petulant, but true anger had not yet crossed Lybell's face in Lian's presence. Until now.
"No. I don't. Doesn't your Guardian speak to you?"
And that was it.
The anger came in a flash of red fire cupped in Lybell's hand and suddenly the flame was flying straight at Lian's face.
His reflexes dulled by exhaustion and emotional stress, the only thing Lian managed to do as bring his arms up to protect his face and wish he'd had the foresight to ask the Mage Women how to put up a magical shield.
Lian could feel the heat just before he heard a howl pierce the air.
Like a predator springing out of hiding to catch it's pray, Fenrir burst through the front of Lian's tunic, jaws opened wide to swallow the oncoming flame whole before it could connect with the form his charge.
When Fenrir landed, Lian noticed that the wolf was bigger than he'd been when they first met. His shoulders now stood slightly above Lian's hips and the wolf's massive head came up to Lian's chest. Shock and more than a little awe made Lian falter as he watched his Guardian square off against a terrified looking Lybell.
Fenrir looked vicious. A nasty snarl on his muzzle that showed an intimidating number of sharp teeth as Fenrir opened his mouth slightly to allow the growl in his throat to echo in the air around them. The sound nearly vibrated the ground beneath their feet.
"Stupid Magic user." Fenrir sneered inside Lian's head. "Attacking my pack, throwing magic at my partner. Mine to protect. Mine to absorb. Now your magic will be Mine to absorb."
From over the massive wolf's head, Lian saw Lybell flinch back as if he'd heard the words Fenrir had spoken, but that was impossible. Fenrir had said that Guardians could only talk to their charges and other Guardians, not the other way around.
Before Lian could call out to Fenrir, Lybell threw his left arm into the air and his cloak's sleeve pulled down enough for Lian to see the image of a raven mid-flight.
Just as he'd recognized the image, it flew right off of Lybell's skin.
Screeching as it flew up into the air in freedom, the bird flipped through the sky once before dive bombing right at Fenrir's large head, talons aimed for the bigger opponent's eyes.
Just then, Lian felt it. The emotions inside Fenrir, the darkness he hadn't realized was there. Fenrir's intent to kill this raven in order to protect his charge. There was no hesitation in his companion at all. He was about to spring on the raven and absorb the magic contained inside. Eat the heart, take the magic. He didn't know how he knew that, but he did and the knowledge shook him.
"Fenrir!" He called.
Before he even registered what he was doing, his body was moving.
As the wolf's strong back legs sprang. As the large raven dived. As Lian's heart thundered.
Lian made a choice.
Throwing himself onto Fenrir's back with just enough force to make the wolf's upward momentum shift forwards instead, Lian threw his right arm between Fenrir's sharp teeth and tucked his face into the fur of Fenrir's neck.
Dagger like teeth sank into his arm, just as talon's dug into his shoulder.
And as the pain came rushing into his system, Lian screamed.
The human scream tore through the night and right into the haze that had become Fenrir's mind. He knew that scream. He'd heard it once when it had been calling his name. His pack had called his name and he'd come to protect what was his. But this scream wasn't a call. This was pain. A guttural, visceral pain.
"Lian!" Fenrir called out. He felt the weight of the boy on his back, but what was wrong? What had happened? What had hurt his charge.
Fenrir could smell blood.
He could taste blood.
But he couldn't remember attacking anything, couldn't...
He moved his head to the side, trying to look at Lian on his back, but the scream came again, a cry of pain.
"Lian! Lian" Fenrir tried to reach the boy, but the boy wouldn't talk back, wouldn't call out. All he did was scream.
Blood.
Fenrir could taste the blood on his tongue, feel the meat between his teeth and it would be easy to bite down. His jaw was strong enough, he was powerful now that he was connected to Lian's magic.
Just as his jaw clamped down just a little more, the boy on his back screamed again.
Oh no.
No.
Instantly, Fenrir's jaws snapped apart and Lian's arm fell from between his teeth.
He'd bitten Lian. He'd bitten his charge. He'd bitten the boy that was his purpose.
No.
This couldn't be.
He wouldn't.
Lian was pack, was his, was the reason for his life, the reason his life was spared the day his whole pack had died. Everything, his entire life was because Lian was alive.
"S-stop!"
Lian!
"S-stop t-thinking. Not - Not your fault."
The words were halting, breathless and pained.
"Not your fault." The boy said again and again.
"Not your fault."
"Not your fault."
"Not your fault."
"Not-"
And then the weight on his back tipped to the side and Fenrir could finally see Lian's body crumple to the ground.
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