The Mage's Son

by T Ariyanna

  He plucked the note from the floor. Most of it was illegible, just messy scribbles, but Cy had learned enough of Kaitlyn's script in the letters he had stolen to make out some. There were stains throughout the paper, and the edges were scorched from Arion's touch.

  Arion,

  Father's gone insane. . .don't know what to do. . . I'll run away before. . .you can't let them. . .forcing me to marry. . .He's a monster! How could I. . . Father can't understand. . .something wrong with Kraven, ever since…

  It cut off abruptly, the ink of the last word smeared and splattered. She had been in a hurry to send the letter off.

  By the time Cy had finished reading, Arion had ceased his meltdown. He was curled up on himself in the middle of the room. He had no control of himself, that much was for sure. With every throw of his arm, another burst of magic escaped. It clung to the walls like liquid, eating away at the room.

  Arion raised his head, and Cy lost his breath. Shadows had formed under the boy’s eyes, and they glowed with rage. His lips had turned blue, skin stretched taut over his clenched jaw. There was nothing left of the boy that had summoned Cy just a few years before.

  “She's only fifteen. What is he thinking? She's only fifteen!” Arion screamed.

  Cy raised a hand and opened his mouth, trying to make sense of it. Arion narrowed his eyes at his confusion, and lunged forward onto his hands. Magic shot out along the floor from his fingers, and Cy shuttered as it reached him.

  “Her father's arranged her marriage! She's being forced to marry Kraven, and they have her on lockdown! She won't be able to get away, and I can't get in there! She's gone! There's nothing to be done now. I've lost everything.”

  Cy started to speak, but Arion's swift movements cut him off. The boy pounced to his feet and paced to the window. The bird swooped into his face, and he snatched it from the air. He held it by one leg as it bit and clawed at him. He didn't flinch from the metal that tore into his skin. He tightened his grip on the bird, and threw the window open.

  With his left hand, he burned holes into the bird’s wings, ignoring its wild screams. It finally stopped fighting, hanging limply in his hand. Seemingly lost interest, Arion tossed the bird out of the window. Cy heard the crunch as it hit the ground, even from a distance.

  “There's nothing left for me now,” Arion whispered, staring into the night sky. Clouds had begun rolling in, creeping in front of the moon. Just before Arion was swallowed by darkness, Cy caught the twisted smile that split his face.

  “I didn't know that blizzards had thunder and lightning like that? Must be one hell of a storm, eh, kid?” Cy hissed from the other end of the room, prowling around the room in a gargoyle’s body. Arion was hunched at the window, staring at pure white as the blizzard roared outside. He had been there all day, watching intently, as though all the answers were out there.

  “I hadn't noticed,” he murmured. A bolt of light cracked just outside the window, and Cy jumped backed. Arion didn't flinch, just stared onward. His arms were crossed on the sill, head upon them, and he drummed the fingers of his left hand upon the stone.

  “They seem to be having a lot of bad weather these past months. The drought in June, then the flood, a windstorm, a fog that lasted a week. Now this storm that's going to bury them, and it's barely even fall. Weird that it would begin this early, right?” Cy pried, longing for any reaction from the boy.

  Arion was trembling where he stood. He had gotten thinner and weaker, refusing food and sleep. Despite his ill health, his magic had gotten stronger, as well as Cy's. He was able to rest outside of Arion's body, and he was glad. He was terrified of what he would find if he were forced to go back.

  The tether between them had gotten longer as well, due to Arion's incessant stretching. He had forced it to its limits, desperately trying everything he could to break it. Though they were still bound to each other, they could stand to be a few rooms away. Arion would often drag Cy into the empty east wing, and lock him in a room for hours. The only answer Arion would ever give as to what he was doing, was that he was distracting himself. It seemed to have been working at first, but Cy doubted there was anything that could calm Arion now.

  Lightning lit Arion’s face again, sparking in his emerald eyes. “Perhaps it's a higher power, come to punish their sins,” he whispered after a long moment. Cy's essence roiled in his stone body at his remark, and he sprang into action.

  Cy stormed over to him and yanked him from the window. “That's enough! I know you're doing it again!”

  As Arion's eyes were taken from the storm, thunder shook the castle. His eyes were burning as he glared at the statue before him.

  Arion laid his hand against the rough chest, and pushed with all his strength. Cy was sent flying across the room, a large hole blasted in his chest.

  “Learn your place, demon,” Arion growled, returning to the window.

  Cy clenched his fist, concentrating all of his power. Through the haze of white magic, Cy saw a glimpse of the village, and smiled.

  “What are you doing?” the boy roared, whirling on him again.

  Cy stood his ground as Arion loomed over him. He took the gargoyle's head in his hands, and blew it to pieces with his magic. Arion's mind was swarmed with Cy's curses and screams as he was forced into Arion's mind, but he smothered him easily.

  “Why do you care about them, anyway? I thought you only cared about yourself,” he spat. There was no remark from the captured Cy, and the two sat in silence.

  “Why don't we check on the owls?” Cy suggested, using his mind to talk. “They almost had the map done last week. They could’ve found something by now.”

  “I don't care.” Arion waved his hand in the air, and the wind picked up speed. It rattled the glass in front of their face, and Cy shivered.

  “Your Mom's still out there. We can pack our things and go check all those places on the map. We never have to come back. We never have to deal with them again.”

  “I'm not going anywhere. I won't be chased out again!” Arion slammed his fist on the sill, and the force of it shattered the glass. The storm sent the glass flying inside, straight for Arion. He lifted his hand, but made no other move to shield himself. At the last second, Arion created a rounded barrier, and the glass was redirected. They curled around the shield, cutting into the edges of Arion's cheeks. He blinked once, smiling as the blood ran down his face. Snow swirled in around him, the cold biting at his exposed skin.

  He waved his hand over the empty frame, and the scattered pieces flew back to their proper places. There was a feeling of needles exiting his face as tiny slivers and dust shot out of his skin to the window. It was fixed just in time for another gust of wind to nearly break it again.

  “I won't let you keep doing this. I won't let you turn yourself into this,” Cy muttered. He kept using his own magic to battle Arion’s, trying to spare the village, to spare Kaitlyn, until his strength ran out.

  He would never stop fighting to save her. And to save Arion.

  Chapter 14

  “Is this all you’re ever going to do, now? I never thought you'd actually get bored with the weather thing, but this is…”

  Arion had locked Cy away in his head, to keep him from interrupting him. He had interfered with his spells as much as he could, but Arion had caught on quickly, and prevented him from entering into another body.

  “What? It's what?” Arion hissed, polishing the spear lying across his lap in the basement of the castle. It shone beautifully in the blue light Arion had cast into the room, its switches and buttons gleaming. He sent a charge of magic into the hilt, and thin blades clicked out from both sides along the length of the long spear. Another charge, and a curved blade formed in place of the spearhead.

  “Disturbing,” Cy said with a gulp. The twisted smile that was plastered on Arion's face would have made his stomach lurch, if he had his own. As it was, all he could feel was the excited racing of Arion's heart, the anxious fluttering in his stomach.

&nb
sp; Arion waved a hand dismissively, too engrossed to feel the insult.

  “Don't you at least want to do something else, today of all days?”

  “Why would the day make any difference?” he snapped.

  “Birthday? Yours? Sweet sixteen? Ring any bells there, kid?”

  Arion twitched at the mention of his birthday, but laughed it off.

  “Maybe…later tonight…we can take a walk. Just the two of us. How does that sound?”

  Cy saw the ideas filling Arion’s head, and cringed. Arion laughed again. He went on to polish the curved blade, but dropped the rag in terror as a new sound filled his ears.

  A loud pounding droned out everything else, even Cyllorian. It filled his head, and his eyes began to blur over. He hadn't heard a sound like that since the villagers had come for him.

  He shook his head angrily, pouncing to his feet. The spear was gripped in his hand so tightly that his knuckles were blanched, veins throbbing beneath the skin. Cy let out a chorus of confusion and protests as Arion took the stairs up to the main floor two at a time. The pounding on the doors was becoming unbearable, and he struggled not to cry out.

  Arion halted in front of the large doors just as the knocking stopped, and he froze in confusion.

  “What the hell, kid? What's going on?” Cy yelled.

  Arion took a few tentative steps back, shaking his head slowly. “No…nothing,” he stuttered. He stared at the door with wide eyes, waiting.

  “Aagh!” he yelled, jumping back when the knocking sounded again, more powerful this time. Tears spilled down his face and he growled angrily. He stomped to the door, raising the spear to strike. With a terrified yell, he threw the door open.

  A small, cloaked figure stood on the other side, a ball of dark blue light in her palm. She pushed the hood back, revealing a sharp, but beautiful face, her age clear in the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Her thin lips pulled back in a smile, and bright white stars shone in her dark eyes. “Arion,” she choked, tears clear in her voice.

  Arion gasped, and the spear clattered to the floor. He stepped back, unsure of what to do. Without hesitating, the woman entered the castle and embraced him.

  “What are you doing here?” he breathed, backing away. She stepped forward, and he raised his hand to ward her off.

  Her smile was filled with sorrow, and she ignored his question. “I brought a present for you. For your birthday.” From the folds of her cloak, she pulled a small rose, glowing faintly between them. She held it out to him, and he ripped it from her grasp.

  He juggled it in his hands, trying to find a place for his fingers among the thorns. When none could be found, he clutched it in his fist, ignoring the stabbing of the thorns altogether. He stared at it a moment, then glared at his mother.

  “It's magic, but I'm sure you could tell. It will never die, never wilt. It's quite the rare specimen, took me a few years to…what are you doing?”

  Arion had torn a petal from the edge of the rose, and dropped it to the floor. He watched his mother all the while, and smiled at her horror. A thin green liquid trickled onto his hand. He rubbed his thumb against another petal, daring his mother to protest.

  “Is that any way to treat a gift, especially one so rare? Could you really be so irresponsible as to…”? Her words halted in her throat, and she controlled her reaction.

  Arion plucked the petal he had been caressing, then another. The petals shriveled before they reached the floor, and the green liquid dripped onto the stone below. Arion's smile grew.

  “Why are you doing this?” his mother demanded.

  His fingers froze on their way to another petal, eyes shooting up to meet hers. “Why are you here?” he spat.

  She sighed, dropping her shoulders. “I am here to see my son. I have done wrong in the past, but I'm here now. Isn't that what matters?”

  “What matters?” he echoed, laughing bitterly. “What matters is that I'm miraculously still alive after the torture I've been through. And now, sixteen years later, you decide to finally show up? I've been scouring the whole land for you, and you just show up at my door?”

  “I remember those owls. They were quite lovely. I could recognize your magic in them.” She smiled fondly at him.

  Arion gasped. “They found you? How? They didn't tell me. There wasn't anything on the map.” He searched his mind frantically, scratching at his head with his free hand.

  “Their programming was easy enough to alter. I wasn't ready to be found, Arion.”

  “You weren't ready? Did you ever even care about me?”

  “Of course I did. I always have. I've been keeping an eye on you this whole time, and no harm has come to you.”

  “No harm? You call that abusive drunk of a father no harm? And if you've been watching the whole time, you must know about Kraven, or that man in Centric? What exactly fits your definition of no harm?”

  He threw the rose to the ground, and she scowled at him. She looked ready to scold him, but seemed to think better of it.

  “I was sure that you could handle yourself. Nothing ever got out of hand, Arion. Stop being so dramatic. You must get that from your father.” Her voice trailed off, lost in her thoughts.

  “What about the explosion?” he hissed.

  She jerked back into reality, and blinked at him. “How do you think you survived the fall? You were always such a frail child. You would’ve never lived through that on your own.” She chuckled at his question, and shrugged it off.

  “I can't believe this. After everything, you're just here, out of the blue and with no invitation. I have to say, that's quite rude of you.” He glared at his mother, the anger burning in his eyes.

  She erupted into laughter, assuming it was a joke. Leaning into him, she wrapped him in a hug. He turned stiff under her weight, his mind going blank.

  Though her cloak was wet, she was warm. He raised his arms before realizing fully what he was doing, and wrapped them around her. He squeezed her tight, but a look of horror remained glued on his face.

  “I've missed you, my son. I only wish we could have had more time together,” she whispered.

  That was all it took. At her words, he snapped.

  “We could have had all the time in the world, Mother,” he growled. “But you chose to leave. I don't want you now.”

  He dug his fingers into her back, and sent shockwave after shockwave of magic into her body. She writhed in his grasp, her screams nearly deafening him, but he showed no mercy. He finally stopped when she slumped in his arms, still conscious. She gripped his coat to hold herself up, her entire body shaking.

  “Ar…ion…” she whispered, staring up at him.

  He scowled back at her, kneeing her in the stomach. She rolled along the floor. He kicked her out of the way and slammed the door behind him, using his magic to lock it. She watched him closely, tears filling her eyes.

  “Mother,” he spat. He lunged for her, and she tried to dodge, but she was too weak from his onslaught. He snatched her up by her long black hair and dragged her down into the dungeons. He threw her into the only cell he had, a crooked smile taking over his face at the thud as she hit the wall. She collapsed to the ground, and the cage door closed with a bang.

  “What happened to you?” she begged.

  “What do you mean? This is who I am. This is your son!” he screamed. The sting of tears threatened him, but he dug his nails into the palms of his hands until he got over it.

  “Arion, what are you doing? Stop this, kid, stop it now!” Cy finally broke through, ramming against the new wall Arion had created to keep him locked inside.

  The wall fell suddenly, and Cy tumbled out of Arion's mind. He was caught in Arion's grip, a cage of green magic holding his essence hostage. He squirmed in the uncomfortable space, but he wasn't there for long.

  Arion threw Cy's cage into the cell, and it shattered against the wall between a set of shackles. Without a body, his essence was Arion's to control, and he bound the demon to the chains
. A translucent form made of light purple smoke took shape, fading in and out around the edges. Cy lunged from the wall, but he was bound just as easily as if he had a physical form.

  “Arion!!” he screamed, struggling with his bonds.

  “You've become such a nuisance lately,” Arion spat, returning his attention to his mother. She bolted for the bars of the cell, and Arion pushed her back. She was sent spinning through the air. Cy yelled as she landed, and she coughed up blood.

  “And you've become a monster!” she hissed, spitting more blood from her mouth.

  “I'm only what they forced me to be. What you forced me to be!” Arion stomped his foot on the ground, and a chunk of the ceiling over Theresa fell. She held her hand up, catching it and destroying it with a blast of blue magic.

  “It's all your fault!” he screamed again, sending more blocks of stone crashing down around her.

  “Stop it, Arion! It's not her fault!” Cy screamed, trying his best to gain his attention. Arion ignored him and gave up on physical damage. He sent shocks of magic into his mother again, and she convulsed on the floor while Cy screamed. Arion laughed maniacally.

  He raised his hand to torture her again, and Cy burst, “It's not her fault. It's mine!”

  Arion froze, his hand still in the air. “It's my fault,” Cy gasped, letting it out in a rush. “It's my anger, my pain, my hate that you're feeling! I hated her, and I hated you. When you opened the box and let me out, I thought it was her coming back for me, and I was going to kill her. But you were there, smart enough to keep me contained.”

  “Wha…what are you talking about, Cy? Stop. Please, shut up!” Arion yelled. Arion sent a bolt of lightning toward Cy, but Theresa jumped in the way. She fell to the ground, writhing in pain again.

  “MOTHER!” Cyllorian screamed, fighting with his restraints again. She stopped convulsing, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth.