When Yrak and I walked into the cabin, Amelia and Ana were sitting in complete silence. I looked at both of them and sighed. "Yrak, that's Amelia. Amelia, my dear, Yrak."
Amelia gave him a soft smile and a small wave. Yrak gave me a side glance, grunted, and walked towards the stove.
"Are you staying for dinner?" Yrak said, crouching down and opening the little door.
"I don't think so. I'm needed back in Thymes Refuge. I only stopped in to check up on Koga. It was a pleasure to meet you and see this charming home you have." Amelia smiled and stood up. I had a slight smile on my face. Watching her turn on her diplomatic side was always entertaining. I shot a sidelong glance at Lise and saw her mouth wide open in shock, staring at Amelia. I stifled a chuckle as I walked towards my lover. I took her in my arms and embraced her.
"Be safe, my love, and I look forward to when you're by my side next," Amelia said into my shoulder.
"I always come back to your side," I said, holding her tight. She let go, kissed me on the lips, and looked me in the eyes. She looked at me like she had looked at me countless times before, and almost as numerous, I couldn't do anything about it. She snapped her fingers, and in a flash of light, she was gone.
"You are Justin's grandson. Even got his taste in women." Yrak chuckled as he started putting the kindling in the stove that he was cutting.
"Well… Koga did say Amelia reminds him of his grandmother." Lise chimed in.
"I could see it. I thought I saw a ghost when I walked in. The boys and I met Ellie a few times. Justin was always so captivated by her. When he introduced us to her, we knew that this was the woman for him." Yrak said, finishing the fire. He snapped his fingers, and a small flame appeared on a twig he was holding. I raised my eyebrows, and Lise's eyes nearly popped out of her head.
"You also know magic, Yrak?" Ana said, fixing her composure.
"Yes, I learned a bit while training for my adventuring career. In my world, I'm known as an Aurabow. I apply my magical aura to my arrows to cause a couple of different effects." Yrak explained. My mind was filled with memories of reading my grandfather's journal. He had come across several Aurabows in his travels. He had thoughts and theories about how they cast magic.
"According to his journals, Aurabows were traditionally full elves. You, clearly, are not." I questioned, and I was honestly surprised that there was no mention of the possibility of a half-breed becoming the most efficient and effective of the forest guardians.
"Aye, Justin was just as skeptical as well when we first met, but I quickly dispelled any doubts about my abilities." He chuckled as he got the fire going.
"So, Prestidigitation is a fairly common spell then?" Ana asked.
"Depends on where you call your magic from, but for arcane spell users, yes. I've seen multiple people use it and swear by it." Yrak answered.
"It was one of the requirements to train under the old man. Light a candle with a snap of your fingers or be sent on your way. He'd tell them how to do it and everything." I mused over the past, sitting with him and watching him encourage everybody who walked through that door.
"What would happen if they couldn't do it?" Ana asked
"He'd send them away with a grin, tell them not to be discouraged, and come back when they could light a candle. Before you ask, yes, some did return, but most of the ones who got sent away did not." I shrugged. The ones who came back seemed to do better than the ones who had just been able to grasp it.
"What about you? I'm guessing you didn't have to do such a thing." Lise said.
"You would be wrong; he tested me at a very young age. The first test I can remember was when I was about five. I lit the candle around seven or so. The tests got more frequent after my sixth birthday." I said.
"Oh, so you were expected to be a magic user then. That's sad. To have that much pressure on you so young. I discovered I could use my magic when I was in my teens." Lise looked at me with sympathy in her eyes. I had to stop myself from snapping at her for pitying me. I was made strong by what I went through.
"It is what it is. My apprenticeship lasted over a decade; the others lasted about 4 years. Then, when I turned 10, Grandfather stopped accepting students, and slowly the estate emptied till it was just him, Grandmother, me, and the staff." My thoughts were soon filled with memories of those years, as the villa went from a steady hum to deafening silence.
"No wonder you're so confident in your abilities; you have more training from him than any other magic user," Ana said.
"Justin was skilled, but I don't know about his training methods. He seemed never to practice his magic. Except when it came to those books." Yrak said, standing up and heading towards a cabinet. I could feel the fire catching as the room slowly warmed.
"The lessons were more theoretical and less practical. Learning spells was something you did on your own. The old man tried to keep the actual spell work up to you because how one person summons their power is different from how another one can." I said, recalling the days of learning from the old man.
"But you were able to teach me two spells fairly easily, though. Wouldn't it be the same principle for the others?" She said, looking at her hands.
"Well, to be honest, we share a bloodline, so it would be easy for us to learn from one another. Doesn't mean there aren't some similarities in casting spells. Like a personal favorite of mine, the others say that it helps to visualize lighting and to feel the electricity course through your palm." A wave of electricity started to dance across my fingertips, and then the crackles of lightning began to shoot into my pointer finger. It felt good to have magic actively coursing through me again. I had missed it so much. "Then another student was able to take that same feeling, force it to their fingertips, and shoot a single bolt in a single direction. He said he wondered if he could direct the energy to another part of his body." With a flick of my wrist, the magic in my fingertip disappeared and the sensation that came with it.
"Wow, what usually happened to the students after they finished their training?"
"I don't know for most of them, but a few went on to become court magicians. The old man didn't keep up with the students after they left. One or two would stop by for a visit a week or so when they were close by." I looked at Yrak and saw he was starting to make dinner. A pot was on a counter, and he was cutting vegetables. I looked at the table and saw the Fireball book glowing slightly. I looked at Lise and motioned towards the book. Her eyes glanced at the book, and she looked back at me.
"What about the book?" She asked.
"You don't see it glowing?" I said, reaching for the book. As my fingertips brushed against the red cover, I felt a surge of warmth shoot up my arm. It was as if the book itself were an ember.
"No, it looks like a fancy book is all." She said, looking at the book harder now.
"It's like it's calling to me. That is odd. Never in my grandfather's journals did this mention this." I said, opening the book to a random page. The words echoed in my mind as I read the sentence that drew me in. 'To understand Fire is to understand one of the fundamental basics of the universe itself.'
"That makes sense, but why that specific passage?" I heard her ask, snapping me out of my trance. The book was no longer warm, and the soft glow from the cover stopped. Whatever the book wanted, it had gotten. I was intrigued; could a book like this?
"I don't know. I didn't even realize I said it out loud." I said, closing the book and looking at Yrak, hoping he had answers.
"Justin's research into the books was mainly complete when we met, and none of us ever really talked about it with him. If anyone has a clue about those books, it would be Arch." Yrak said, adding the vegetables to the soup
"Either way, that phrase was important. I don't know what it means beyond surface meaning," I said, crossing my arms. The book called me. It wanted me to focus on that. I opened the book again and began to lose myself in the pages. As the pages turned, I felt Ana walk towards Yrak and offer her help. As I got deeper and deeper into the book, I felt a warm sensation begin to build at the base of my spine. Written on the pages
I looked up and saw Yrak and Ana sitting at the table, chatting about some mundane topic.
"Food will be ready in a couple of minutes." Ana noticed me looking up.
"Thanks, I was getting hungry. I can see why my grandfather would lose himself in these books. Once you start, it draws you into the layers of information. I suspect I could read any one of these books more than once and learn something new from the pages." I said, closing the book. As the book closed, I realized my mistake too late.
"Well, that's fantastic. I can't believe I did that." I instinctively opened the book back open, and I started to find my place again. As the first word entered my vision, I knew I had seen the exact spot that I had left off. The book remembered where I stopped, even if I didn't. I chuckled and closed the book, looking up at Ana and Yrak. He had gotten up and grabbed bowls and silverware. Lise was looking at me as if I had three heads.
"You alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, these books are interesting to say the least." I grabbed the book and placed it into its slot in the Library.
"Food's done," Yrak said, placing a bowl of what I could guess was some stew in front of Ana and me. It smelled delicious, and he walked back to grab his bowl and a plate with a few small biscuits.
"Thank you so much." Ana grabbed a spoon and started to eat. I nodded in agreement and followed suit. The stew tasted better than any fire-roasted rabbit I could make.
The time spent eating went by quickly. I was so hungry that talking didn't even cross my mind. Soon, my bowl was empty, and I could feel the sweet call of rest start.
"Koga, you're sleeping on the floor. Lise, you get the bed." Yrak said, standing, and grabbed the dishes. He walked them over to the sink.
"Let me do those," Lise said, standing up. Yrak chuckled and stepped back. I looked around and saw a decent-looking place on the floor to settle down. I lay down and grabbed the Fireball book out of the Library. I opened the book and resumed reading. I was vaguely aware when Ana wished us all good night. I grunted a response and didn't look up. I could feel the daggers from her eyes for my behavior, but I soon thought they subsided after a few words from Yrak. He knew what power these books held over their master. He had seen it firsthand. I had seen it as well. Now it was my turn to experience the allure of these books. They practically beg to be read, to be opened, to be learned from. In return for the knowledge they possess, all you need to do is offer them your attention and be open to what they have to teach.
"Hello, old friend." My heart skipped a beat for a reason when I heard Yrak speak. The book had drowned out all other sounds but let that one slip through. I looked up and saw him sitting at the table, a wooden case open before him. I closed the book, stood up, and walked over to my companion.
"That's a much nicer bow than the one you had drawn on me earlier today," I said, sitting down next to him, taking note of the silverish wooden bow with a white bowstring. I could sense the powerful magic coming from the weapon even without casting a single detection spell.
"Yes, this bow has seen me through many tight spots and adversaries. I imagine that I'll need her once again traveling with you."
"What's her name and what's she made out of?"
"Her name is Cala-leigh. She's made out of the finest ironwood gathered after a historic storm. Her string is Unicorn Tail hair, given to me freely and with her blessing. She took a while to perfect, but she never let me down during the process." Yrak softly smiled at his bow.
"Ah, that explains the raw magic just emanating from the bow. The magic energy from the unicorn hair would be amplified normally from the iron wood, but if what you say is true, then the energy from that storm transferred into the wood and amplified it further." I sat back in my chair. Here was only one of the many companions my grandfather had, and I imagine they were at least just as powerful as the man in front of me.
"Yes, each of us, except for Justin, for obvious reasons, has some unique weapon. Razors were his twin Rapiers. Arch's, well. I'll let him show his crossbow off." Yrak said, grabbing the bow out of its case and putting his other bow in its place.
"We should get some rest. I suspect Green Water is going to need all of our energy and attention when we get there." I said, standing up. Yrak nodded in agreement and followed suit. I walked over to the spot I found and lay down. My mind was racing. Today was not how I thought it was gonna go. I figured we would run into someone at some point, but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it would be Yrak and him having the blood magic book. As I felt my mind keep replaying the day in my head, I soon felt myself drift off.