FicWad

“It’s bedtime, my handsome boy.” Talina calls softly across her small cottage to let her son know she’s coming to tell him goodnight. As she walks down the short hall, Talina’s raven-black hair shines in the dim candles’ light which she passes along the way, illuminating her face and eyes, the color of them being caught somewhere between bright blue and purple. Talina enters her son’s room to see he is already under the covers, making her smile sweetly at him before she crosses the room to close the window’s shutters on the outside. “Tell me a story?” Mal requests while giving his mother a hopeful look with his bright green eyes, shining at her from behind his shaggy hair that is just as black as Talina’s. She lingers at the window for a moment, disturbed by seeing strange figures wandering the streets outside since she knew their intentions for being in Tarnu, Talina and Mal’s village. “Mother?” Mal’s voice broke into Talina’s thoughts and brought her back to what she was doing. Talina turns with a loving smile now on her face and goes to sit on the side of Mal’s bed, looking at him thoughtfully. “What would you like me to read to you tonight, my dear boy?” At his mother’s question Mal began to think very hard, then he grinned and reached out his hand to make the storybook he wanted Talina to read him float from its place then land gently on Talina’s lap, surprising her with how well he had controlled his magic ability. “Well done! I couldn’t be more proud!” Talina hugged her son tight as she exclaimed her praises upon him, but fear and sadness began to fill her heart, as she knew it would alert the figures out in the streets. Letting go, Talina leans back and stares into her son’s eyes then tells him that tonight might not be good for a story night after all, then she yawns and tells him she’s very tired tonight. “Mal, I want you to promise me you won’t leave your room tonight no matter what you may hear. Please promise me?” Mal nodded his answer to his mother’s request, then she smiles and uses her own magic to put the book back, making it vanish then reappear back on the shelf.

An hour passes and Talina now sits before the fireplace across the way from the front door, her expression a hard one as she can sense the gathering figures outside her home. A sudden thought comes to her and she leaps up and rushes to her son’s room and she places both of her hands on the door, then she closes her eyes as her hands glow while creating a magical energy that is the color of her own eyes. Talina opens her eyes, which are now glowing so bright their light illuminates her face, then the energy from her hands quickly surrounds the outside of the walls of Mal’s bedroom. Talina pulls her hands away from the door and everything surrounded by her magic suddenly vanishes to leave a gaping hole in her house after the entire room and everything in it, including Mal, is transported far away from Tarnu. Suddenly all the candles in the house extinguished and the front door bursts and shatters inward, then Talina’s entire body begins to glow brightly with magical energy and before the demons can rush into the cottage the door fixes itself and closes on the creatures trying to get in. The windows shatter inward this time, the glass shards flying through the air, but turn to sand and fall to the ground when they touch Talina’s aura of magic, and the broken windows suddenly vanish as the wall becomes solid wood. Talina’s hair becomes weightless and rises up around her face then above her head, flowing around gracefully as she begins to rise into the air, and screams from her neighbors fill the dead silence at seeing the demons surrounding her house. Giving a wicked smirk, Talina lowers her head slightly as she fixes her gaze upon the front door and it turns into glass that immediately starts to glow orange and red as it starts heating up, then it shatters and explodes outward to shower the demons with sharp and searing hot debris.

Inhuman screams and roars sound from the other side of the wall that separates Talina from the demons that she just executed the first offensive maneuver against, which brought satisfaction to her features. “Try to take me if you can!” Talina’s challenge was issued in an angry tone, but she gasped with surprise as she was answered suddenly from behind. “My pleasure.” The voice was gravelly and sounded old, but greatly amused at the same time, and Talina turned to experience even more surprise when seeing the owner of the voice. “Caylor.” Talina spoke the name in a whisper with disbelief that her old mentor was here to assist the demons, and for no apparent reason Caylor let out a dry chuckle. “My dear Talina, I’m not here to assist them, I ensure they succeed. The Princess gave the orders to me herself.” Talina knew in that instant the kingdom would never be the same again, the power of the monarchs had now changed hands to the next generation. “What is the task they need to succeed in? Why me?” Talina wanted to send Caylor out of her home, but first she wanted answers from him, but he didn’t respond to her with anything but a sneer. Talina knew she wouldn’t get the information she wanted and immediately launches her attack when her magic aura turns into fire and explodes out from her in all directions to decimate her home and destroy the demons and Caylor all at once, but something happened and the fire didn’t affect anything around her. Talina looked at Caylor who was looking at her angrily, “I obviously didn’t teach you as much as I’d hoped. No matter, you will soon bend to our will.” Caylor said softly.

Talina’s eyebrow raised at his comment as it gave her some insight to Caylor and the demons’ intentions with her, but she didn’t have time to contemplate it much as Caylor hit her with energy to bind her abilities temporarily and causing her to fall to the ground with a shout of surprise. Caylor walked towards her then ran his fingers through her hair before grasping it and pulling her face up to look at his. “I should drain you dry then kill you. I would if that were allowed, but I’ll still take pleasure in breaking your mind down until you are a mindless soldier in the Princess Dahlia’s new legion.” Caylor’s grip on her hair tightened even more as he accessed his power one last time in Talina’s house to transport her into the prisoners’ carriage waiting outside her house now. Caylor turned to look at the missing section of the house that Talina transported away along with her son while curiosity over it filled him, and then Caylor resolved he would just torture the information about that out of her later. Giving one last look around the humble cottage, Caylor walked out of the house’s front entrance and nodding at the demons to return to patrolling Tarnu.

“That’s how all of this began twenty years ago, for me, at least.” Finch looked around at his audience as he gave that part of his story some closure for now until the time he would continue it, satisfaction filling him as he could easily see that they were intrigued by the first installment of his tale, a feeling that caused his bright green eyes to sparkle. Finch turned then to walk away from the crowd and leaving the pub, making his way through the town’s dim streets, the only light source being the light pouring from the windows of the homes and his heavy boots crunching as he leaves his tracks in some fresh snow. “Finch.” A voice whispers from the darkness to reach his ears and remind him someone he hasn’t seen in a long time, causing fear and anguish to grip him as he looks around nervously. The voice whispers his name again, but this time it meets his ears from a different direction. “Show yourself!” Finch shouts out to whomever is lurking around him and his command is followed when Caylor emerges from the shadows. “I should have known it would be you.” Finch said angrily as his eyes began to shine brightly with green energy once he saw Caylor there. “Of course, my dear Mal. Did you expect me to send your mother and risk you breaking our hold on her?” Caylor sneered as his eyes turned gold and brightened from the naturally dull brown of his irises. “You won’t elude me any longer, and without you the rebels will lose morale. This silly war ends tonight!” Caylor’s features creased with displeasure, as he was about to attack Mal until he sensed something and his eyes widened when footsteps began to sound all around he and Mal. “Oh?! This will be very fun, very fun indeed!” Caylor grinned wickedly as the others stepped into the dim light, counting how many rebels Mal had there to assist him and concluding at thirty-six, including Mal which impressed Caylor. “You didn’t underestimate me, I’ll give you that, boy.” He listened to everything around him, waiting for someone to make the first move while he stared Mal down with a smirk and patience in his eyes. “Trust me, I know exactly what I’m doing, old man.” Mal smiled at him with a hint of viciousness in his expression and everyone remained still as the tension rose all around from the inactivity. “Make your move, you little bastard!” Caylor’s patience had suddenly cracked.