Kindles of War

by Nicol Terra

  “Well.” He said, motioning to the ground. Illevetar nodded as the man sat in front of her, his legs crossed. “I see you can use fire magick.”

  “I dabble.” She said.

  “But that is it?” He said.

  She shook her head and sighed. “Sadly, yes." She lied about her Aura capabilities, it was an unspoken Taboo in Elven Society to use Aura since physical work was frowned upon. It became a habit in a way.

  He pulled out a purple tablet from his skin sleeve; it was a hallucinogen, used to unlock new magic powers. It didn't come cheap either.

  She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t have anything to give for that.”

  “It's free. Take it.” He said.

  She pondered for a few seconds as he looked at the man again. He seemed innocent enough although she did not have the proficiency with Aura sensing or sensing what might off with this man. She rolled her eyes is saddened disappointment. "God I wish my father taught me how to use Aura other than making explosions." Illevetar thought to herself.

  She swiped the tab, inspecting its edges. It felt like a cloud of soft, brittle dust was molded together.

  “Well, what happens when I take it?” She asked

  “Well first, do you know what that is?” He flipped the question back.

  “No.” She answered.

  “It is Molly. It is a drug for those who struggle with magic mastery. They say it gives them an extra ‘push.’” He said.

  “What do you mean?” She asked.

  “Well. Let's just say...it takes you out on a trip." He said.

  He snapped his fingers, a small sphere of light enveloped them as Time froze still. She gulped.

  “Time Stop.” She said.

  The man nodded. “How rare is this ability in people.”

  She grimaced, only commanders and higher usually had Bent or Warp effects. Such powerful and advanced schools of thoughts either required years of training and disciplined or were awakened in a user. Awakened, like a shattered object.

  “Well, what if I told you, there were rarer abilities?” He said, snapping his fingers once more as time returned to its normal flow. She heard a loud thud as she saw Ahn stumbling in the corner of his eye.

  “Aww man, I thought I had that.” He said, picking up a white ball as he tossed it in a drunken stupor towards someone else. She giggled and looked at the man once more.

  “I wouldn’t know what to say.” She shrugged.

  He smirked. “Magic beyond the basic four or natural four has other advanced techniques. Take this, and those who struggle to ascend will meet a world beyond your understanding.” He said, then the man disappeared. She looked frantically from side to side, only to see nothing. She sighed. The man was gone. The party was lively, the people were happy. She loved the city and the people, and then she remembered- that was in danger.

  She held the tab in her hand, shrugging once. If she can do so as a princess, she should protect the people who can’t fight back.

  She threw inside, swallowing the tab whole as she closed her eyes. Then a white light.

  Illevetar felt her body and soul separated as she screamed helplessly to a white flood of light. She twitched once.

  “Oww.” She said, She rose, snapping her back into place as she looked around her. She gave off a big gulp as she saw tens of paths in front of her, many of them shrouded by a silky web. She walked to one of these webs and touched it, only to be shocked and sent flying back.

  “Is this place my hell?” Illevetar thought to herself, getting up once more. She saw one path without a web. She had the only path, and she had no clue where it led.

  She gulped. “Well, you only live once.” She said, slowly walking down the white path.

  The room was tasteless, odorless and there was only a vague sense of touch where you ‘can’ and ‘can't’ go. Illevetar's hands guided her, as she touched around, turning at every dead end. She moved around the path as she saw tens of paths mark in front of her. This time, they were all open. She raised a brow, and she closed her eyes.

  She felt the one third from the middle, to her left was the safest, but the one to the farthest right was the most dangerous.

  She then remembered Alexia’s teaching. ‘Magic, Aura and Crystals evolve when your life or mentality is in danger.’.

  She nodded, choosing to walk down the one to her farthest right.

  She saw a flaming pit and a small platform in the middle. The platform had a red light. Beyond that was an orange door. The cavity of the fire was probably a mile long. She cursed. She would have to jump half a mile, twice? If she fell, what would happen? She froze in fear; she reached around for something, anything.

  She then reached for her right ring on her left hand. The circle was inscribed by the Illuma family. She threw the ring down the pit; the ring erased before it can even reach the bottom. She walked back a few hundred feet, her right leg in the front and her left leg in the back.

  She rushed forward, eyeing for the platform in the middle with the red light and jumped as far as she could. She dropped and grabbed onto the edge. She dangled helplessly, trying to pull herself up. She caught with her other hand, lifting herself to the pit and throwing herself up on the platform. She smirked.

  “Hah! I win!” She said, reaching for the red light, her hands phasing through it. She blinked, trying to grab it. Nothing.

  “Oh, you got to be kidding me!” She slammed her hands to the side through the light; the red flame shattered instantly. She nodded to herself.

  “Nevermind then.” She said.

  She then walked three steps forward, looking down at the other part of the fire pit and then the orange gate that greeted her. She walked the farthest she could and jumped again. This time, she reached the platform with ease, making it a few extra feet onto the solid ground. She grabbed the handle, trying to swing it open. Nothing. She put her foot on the door, trying to swing it open. She cursed.

  “Fucking open, come on!” She said.

  The door remained still.

  “That is because you are not ready.” An inner voice spoke.

  She raised a brow as she fell to the ground below, fire and lava greeting her. She tried desperately to swim up, to no avail. The flames of fire swallowed her as she cursed.

  She tried expelling fire around her to fly or float like she usually did, but the liquid earth swallowed her whole.

  “What are the odds this had to happen?” She gargled, bubbling and trying to swim up as the fire burned at her skin, peeling it and vaporizing it.

  “Exactly, the odds were not in your favor.”

  Then, she opened her eyes; she grabbed her body and her face, everything perfectly intact. She looked at her hands, still shaking and her body trembling. She stammered, shaking her head once. She created a red flame, this time Illevetar focusing intensely on it. She grabbed the torch with her free hand as she felt it turn a crimson red to black. She smirked. “Did it work?”

  “Yo!” Rachel yelped as Illevetar jumped up.

  “Don’t scare me like that!” She protested and whined. Rachel shook her head.

  “Sorry, Ahn is currently trying to sober up. He had a little too much to drink.” He said.

  Illevetar blinked once, the flames in her hands disappearing as she gave a small smirk.

  “Was he cute?” She asked.

  “Infinitely so.” Rachel said sarcastically. “In reality, it looks like he is calling it a night soon.:

  "I wish I was there to see it." Illevetar thought.

  "Well, he had too much alcohol," Rachel added.

  "Speaking of, are you going to drink before the battle?"Illevetar asked. Rachel blinked three times in confusion.

  "I am 16. I can't drink." She said. "Plus, I would rather smoke."

  "Oh don't you tell me." Illevetar raised in protest, only for Rachel to pull out a pack of Sparks, letting out a small smile.

  "It is 16 in Kragg to smoke, and Ahn gave me this one for free." Rachel said. Illeve
tar sighed as she pinched her forehead together. "I swear everyone smokes except me."

  Illevetar asked a nearby civilian where she might train her fire abilities. The man nervously pointed to the ‘Central Park,’ a small forest inside the city just outside the northern gate. The walk took a few minutes and then finally she took a portal to the park. The night and the eight moons shrouded the park. She looked up to the eight moons, all of them with their endless oceans and the endless green continents. Even from this distance, it looked beautiful. She smiled, her gaze shifting down back to the stone path of the park.

  The park was large and suffocating, easily a few square kilometers in size. It was the size of the mythical small villages from thousands of years ago. The park had a dozen ancient, wooden houses that shot up from the ground, only for the vines to seemingly break down the house and ‘pull’ them back to the earth below. The park had a small river system, which has since dried up because of the outside armies draining the water for themselves. Within a few days, most of the city evacuated, either to the other two cities on the island or the other six on the archipelago or just left. Her face frowned, even in the face of an imminent threat, everyone around her could party. She smacked her hand in the air, creating a red flame from her right hand. The sparks from her hand seemed to float into the sky itself, crackling in a way she could not understand.

  “Remember the basic formations; these include how you can create your fire, warp it and make it do what you want.” Alexia always told her this mantra; it was a simple mantra. She looked at her flames; then she felt an answer come to her.

  “Coat your magic with your will.” She remembered, that if you want something to happen, you need to have the willpower to do it. She grumbled to herself, unfortunately, had no talent for other elements. She sighed. She never understood why elements did the things they did. She then figured she would try something, something she saw.

  She closed her eyes, listening to the crickets chirped as she clasped her hands together. She tried to feel the waves of the nearby creeks or ponds; the water flowing alongside each other. She felt strangely at ease, something she always hated. She hated having her short temper or her stubborn nature, but both were suited to control fire. She felt a sense of calm and flexibility from the water, rushing and flowing in the water. She slowly unclapped her hands together, creating a small ball of water. She smiled; she felt her abilities expand already.

  “Woah, didn’t expect you to be here in dark, creepy forests.” Rachel said. Her ball of water instantly turned to a ball of flames, engulfing her face for a few seconds and extinguishing in a second.

  “Don’t scare me like that!” Illevetar yelled, getting up from the soil. Her ears perked up and twitched at the sound of her volume that even Rachel jokingly closed her ears.

  “Hm, what is that? I can’t hear you over the sound of yelling.” Rachel said.

  Illevetar cursed and shook her head. “I said, don’t scare me when I am warping!”

  “Sorry to break it to you, girl, but controlling water ain‘t ‘warping.’”

  She tilted her head and raised a brow. “What is the word?”

  “Bending. Warping is for stuff that doesn’t have a physical form, like Light.”

  She rolled her eyes. “So I bend water, big deal. Just don‘t scare me.”

  Rachel giggled. “Well ignoring the fact bending water is for advanced abilities, I will just ignore that bit. But want tips?”

  “You don’t use Water though.” Illevetar squinted.

  She blinked once and shrugged. “I don’t use it too much. I prefer the properties of my unique element. Lightning is fast, it paralyzes people, and maybe if I get good enough with it, I can become electricity instantly even without me thinking it!”

  “Doubt it.” Illevetar said, though, in her mindset, magic users create ‘active,’ ‘always on’ effects. She sighed.

  “What do you want anyway?” Illevetar asked.

  “Ahn is...well, sick, thought I say a quick hi.” Rachel answered.

  “Most the city is gone, right?” Illevetar asked. Rachel nodded as she leaned on a nearby tree.

  Rachel nodded. “I think so, Yas has only told me that the Army outside our walls is getting more and more ballsy. I heard they got someone killed at one tower.”

  Illevetar face turned ghost white. “Scary, the stakes are high.”

  “Yeah, but I am sure with Aura Boy and a Princess, I say our chances are good.” Rachel said. Illevetar couldn’t help but smile, Rachel was one of the most optimistic and relaxed person she met. Everyone in the royal court coddled her and kept her in the dark with political issues or serious things, not Rachel. If she wanted to tell you something, she would tell you, and if she wanted to make a big deal out of something, it was probably a big deal.

  Then a realization hit her

  “How is the wall holding?” Illevetar asked. Rachel shrugged.

  “I heard one wall is strangely quiet, hasn’t been a week of activity,” Rachel added. Illevetar tweaked her head.

  “Oh?” She inquired.

  She nodded. “I find it strange too, probably why evacuation has intensified. We should all leave by tonight and meet up with Yas and his army.”

  Illevetar nodded in agreement. “I will get ready and one last sleep before we go.

  Rachel smiled. “I will leave you then. Ioja told me that he sensed you here; he was right.”

  “Aww, did you miss me?” Illevetar coed.

  “I need to catch up a week of missing out talking to you, so Let's wait till then.” She winked, walking away to leave her quietly. Illevetar's smile faded as her gaze intensified

  “All right, now time to finish her training.” She said to herself

  Four years ago, she remembered clearly the room of darkness and her transition from a princess to a civil servant. She was Sixteen years old. She had her hair tied in a ponytail, and her clothes ironed to the most exquisite detail. Illevetar wore a pink flowing dress, her large open sleeves and her blouse matched only with a gold choker around her neck and crown. Illevetar was surrounded in the dark room with her mother, father, and Alexia.

  “I see, Kragg has this..stone.” Alexia scoffed, shaking her head in the dark. “This stone is..”

  “Calamity Stone. Also known as Atarares, it is unknown, a lost relic thought to first be in the hands of the Mountain-Folk and briefly in the hands of Riha before the end of the Great Storm.” Illevetar father spoke with flowing language, his voice soft and stoic, his pale face shining the dark room. His eyes gazed at the wooden map carved into the tile ground beneath them. The route was a complete map of the world. He waved his hand, red light shining on the continent of Eptunis.

  “The gateway can only be awakened by certain people.”

  Illevetar mother raised a brow, her face filled with disgust. “Can’t you just destroy the continent Alexia and take the stone?”

  She shook her head. “Sorry to break your fantasy, but even if I destroyed the continent, the gateway would instead close up instead of being destroyed and leaving all objects inside the portal. Nicholas tried it. Maya, I am not sure-”

  Then the door opened, a sliver of light shooting inside the room. A woman with a slim piece of green armor entered quietly, her head hanging on the floor.

  “Sorry for being late.” Alura scrambled.

  “Alura, you a General of the People, you better have a good-”

  “Actually, I do. I figured it out.” Alura said, interrupting Maya briefly. “Those who can open the gates must follow two requirements.”

  “Do tell.” Alexia said.

  “I found out that when Nicholas opened the first and even when Riha opened it, they opened because of their position. Royal Blood is a must to open them a containing room. Royal blood from those from Era Zero.” Alura explained.

  “And the second?” Alexia asked.

  “Well, it seems the secondary requirement is one must have a pure heart, either pure good or evil.” Alu
ra said.

  “A pure… heart?” Alexia thought and pondered. "How does one have a pure heart?"

  “I think only some people were meant to take the stones. Others that tried can't enter the sealed gate. Those who have, however, were reported to have a faint glyph appear above them, showing they be worthy.” Alura added.

  “Well, how do we know who is worthy or who isn‘t?” Alexia asked.

  Alura said nothing; moments passed as she slowly moved to the wall and leaned on it. Her red eyes shot through the darkness, looking at Maya and then Illevetar.

  “Seers say it is you. You are the one to take the stone, and you will be one of the ones to harness great power.”

  Illevetar wondered about fate, and the future was something she never once expected to guide her a particular path. She grumbled, she hated the idea that her path was predetermined. One day, she hoped to be able to control her fate, then a smile curled on her face. That is why she was here, to make a new fate for herself.

  See the world, and only then can you change your destiny.

  She created a flame with her right hand and pulled the fire with her left hand, controlling like a pile of dough. She felt the fingers in her left-hand tingle, and she lost feeling in her left hand, but otherwise, she can mold her flames. She intensified her magic into her right hand, creating a ball of fire instead. This flame was easily a meter. She smirked, the flames molding around her hand and swirling like untamed energy. She ‘jumped’ up, creating sparks at her feet to jump a few dozen feet in the air. The park below her was a few square kilometers of forest.

  10 Percent. She felt the power rush to her right hand, growing bigger and bigger, the flames growing bigger and bigger. She floated freely in the air, as flames left her to dance around the sky, floating freely as she saw everything. The park, the city, and the walls. She was tiny in comparison, yet she knew she had the power to change something even more significant; her destiny.

  50 Percent. The flames grew bigger and bigger, eventually rising to the size of the park itself. She closed her eyes for a moment as she felt the magic pulse through her veins, a warm yet boiling power reaching to her right hand and left hand as if she was controlling a power untamed beyond her wild imagination.