Maybe the magic really did make the participants want to remain bound. At least, it did if they already trusted and liked each other.
I rubbed my face in my hands briefly, before nodding somberly. “Okay,” I whispered. “I won’t try for now.” I couldn’t commit to forever though. I really didn’t like the idea that I could make Risa do whatever I wanted. I was sure she might hate me one day for it, especially if I told her to do something she didn’t want to do.
“I could never hate you,” Risa whispered in response to my thoughts.
I made a face again, and looked away.
Eli cleared his throat. “So, is there a reason why you told her to wait?” He asked tentatively.
I sighed heavily and then met his gaze. “It’s just that those rings are extremely dangerous,” I explained. “Risa almost killed herself using the invisibility ring.”
“Really?” She asked in surprise.
I glanced at her and nodded. “Yeah. Alabast said you used some of your lifeforce when you tried to continue powering it after you ran out of magic – supposedly you only had five years left to live before I intervened.”
Unexpectedly, a hysterical cackling filled my mind, causing my expression to darken.
‘Damn cat. You were lying, weren’t you?’
The laughing continued. ‘Did I say she had five years left? I meant she shaved off five years of her life. Granted, after healing her and supplementing her lifeforce with the leftover of that first man, she would still have lived long past her original lifespan, even after losing five years.’
Rather than being pissed, I suddenly found myself gawking into space. “How long?” I whispered out loud, hesitant to even believe she was telling the truth at this point.
Alabast continued to snicker. ‘She has enough life energy stuffed into her body to last a good couple of centuries at this point,’ her laughing continued, ‘and I’ve got your body up to double that.’
I shook my head in disbelief. That couldn’t be real. She had to be lying. But even if she wasn’t, that didn’t mean we couldn’t still be killed. Risa could still be killed.
‘Oh, I won’t hurt her,’ Alabast sneered, distaste in her tone. ‘Killing that filth has no real benefit for me. If you want to hang around trash, then that’s your business.’
I bit the inside of my cheek as she insulted my friend, knowing there was no point in defending her. It wouldn’t change the demon’s mind who was clearly prejudiced against the worgron race.
I could tell that Alabast was telling the truth about not hurting Risa, but I wasn’t stupid. I sensed the real reason she was considering keeping Risa around was because she liked the idea of having an extra reserve of lifeforce to steal from if needed. Risa was like a portable elixir of life to Alabast and nothing more.
Eli’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “Riel,” he whispered simply.
I frowned as I met his gaze, realizing everyone was staring at me while I had a silent dialogue with the demon within. “I guess maybe it’s okay. Just please be careful,” I pleaded.
He nodded and got up this time to find the rings out of my pack, rather than asking Risa to find them for him. I was thankful when he only pulled out the two silver rings, both of which shouldn’t be dangerous when he inevitably couldn’t control them.
However, rather than return to where he was sitting, he instead plopped down next to the pack. I glanced at Risa automatically, just to make sure she was alright with him sitting so close, only to see that she wasn’t even paying attention. Instead, she was focused on me.
“Everything okay?” I wondered seriously, trying to understand the expression in her golden eyes.
She nodded. “Yes, but you just said I almost died and then told Eli it should be fine without any explanation.”
“Oh,” I blushed in embarrassment, looking at them both apologetically. “Alabast lied to me. She said you had sucked out most of your lifeforce. In reality, you did use up a little by trying to continue to use the invisibility ring when you ran out of magic, but I fixed the problem so it’s okay.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell them about the potential fact that Risa might live a lot longer than a normal person now because of it. Really, I had no way to know if that might be a lie too. Only time would tell, unless I could learn some way to sense how much life energy someone had within. At this point, I didn’t even fully understand the difference between it and magic. This subject was certainly not something the elves taught, and I imagined that studying lifeforce would be considered forbidden just like my binding magic was.
I was just now beginning to understand the implications of why. The idea of someone else having this type of magic was a little scary to think about. They could literally be an immortal monster capable of killing or enslaving almost anyone.
Risa was pensive. “I think I know what you’re talking about,” she admitted. “But the ring didn’t do that to me. It was my attempt to continue using my ice magic even after I had run out of mana. The ice I used to kill the last two men was created after I ran dry.”
I stared at her for a moment, considering that. Alabast was oddly silent, prompting me to wonder if she had lied about that too. My mind then focused on something else. “Mana?” I wondered, curious of her use of the word.
Risa’s cheeks flushed. “Yeah, that’s what Madeline called the potion. I kind of like that word.”
Mira chimed in with a sigh. “Mana is a term that human mages use to refer to magical energy.”
“Oh,” I replied simply, glancing at her at my side. “I didn’t realize that.”
Eli abruptly spoke up, having been examining the rings intently. He hadn’t put either one on yet. “How exactly did this invisibility ring fit on that man’s thumb?” He asked seriously, looking at the tiny silver ring.
Risa glanced down at him. “Oh. It was very large originally, but it shrank when I put it on my finger.”
Eli gawked up at her in surprise, before slowly placing it on the tip of his index finger. Nothing happened for a moment as he held it there, but then it abruptly expanded in size. Eli’s eyes were wide as he slid it down his finger, finding that it was a perfect fit now. “Wow,” he exclaimed in disbelief. “I can’t even imagine the advanced level of magic needed to create something like this.”
I barely heard him though, my eyes wide for a different reason.
Eli was still visible.
“I can still see you,” I exclaimed in surprise.
He met my gaze briefly, before glancing at Risa. “What do you mean by that?” He wondered, looking back at me. “I’m not using my invisibility magic, so of course you can still see me.”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t control it,” Risa admitted. “When I put it on, I turned invisible immediately, and the ring began sucking out my magic extremely fast.”
Unexpectedly, Evie chimed in. “If he can already use invisibility magic, then that’s why,” she explained. “The ring is basically just a normal piece of jewelry if worn on the finger of a mage who can already use that type of magic.”
We all looked at her, prompting her to blush and look down at her knees. She began pinching the blue silk of her pajama pants in between her fingers, looking uncomfortable to have everyone’s eyes on her.
Eli held up the opal ring in between his thumb and index finger, gesturing towards her with it. “How do you know so much about these?” He wondered seriously. I was curious too, since she was so young and had been a slave for a while by the sound of it.
Evie’s small shoulders shrugged slightly, as she glanced over at him with her head still angled down. “I’ve been used to create rings like that before,” she replied quietly.
I felt Mira tense beside me, though I didn’t fully understand why.
Eli continued. “You’ve created rings like this?” He repeated in disbelief. “But how could you? You’re so young.”
“Yeah,” I added. “Aren’t you like twelve?”
Evie held her head high then, meeti
ng my gaze. “You’re right,” she agreed. “I am twelve. And I’m also three-thousand six-hundred and forty-one.”
I felt a chill run up my spine as I noticed Mira beginning to tremble next to me. I couldn’t seem to look away from Evie’s glowing orange eyes though, hesitant to ask my next question.
“You mean, the monster inside of you is that old?” I asked breathlessly.
Evie’s lips slowly curled into a small smile as she held my gaze. Suddenly, I recalled Mira accusing the monster of attacking her, only for Evie to respond by saying that Mira wouldn’t have survived if she had attacked her.
If she had attacked her.
As if the little girl had read my thoughts, her smiled widened slightly, her orange eyes visibly glowing brighter.
“I am the monster,” she replied simply.
Announcement: I am now starting on sequels to the five stories I have started. Please note that most authors have 2-3 years between sequels, whereas I’ll probably have finished some of these series by that time with a book 3 or 4.
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Acknowledgments
Special thanks to:
Esther Eckstein
Breno Gazzola
Je'Krillick
Kittora
Pinky1995
Storm Allen
Patreon Super Supporters:
Kerry Eckstein (Apr 2018)
Tanner Dutmer (Sep 2018)
Luke Campbell (Sep 2018)
Angel de'Haven (Sep 2018)
About the Author
Kurtis Eckstein is a huge fan of books, anime, and coffee! He has always wanted to create his own stories, but never felt like he had the time to invest in a full book. Finally, he decided to settle with writing short-stories, only to discover he loved it so much that it became his primary hobby. Within six months, he had written three novels and was over halfway done with two others.
Now, in addition to writing full novels, he also writes short-stories regularly on his Reddit page r/AuthorKurt in order to continue improving his writing skills and develop new story ideas. Check out his page on Reddit to view a ton of great content for free!
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