"Elryn: Chapter 3" by Brian D. Saul

The stone cracked in slow motion around me.  With each amplification rune destroyed the energy should have depleted, yet it didn’t.  The energy in the room continued to compress, more, and more.  Its focal point....me.

Gradually the dream faded and I snapped back to consciousness..  Yet another one, they all seemed like things that happened during my spell, but why couldn’t I remember any of it?  I drug myself from bed, being careful to not do it so fast today.  I had enough bruises from running into things because I was too dizzy to walk right as it was.  Unfortunately I was correct about the symptoms not getting any better, they didn’t seem any worse then yesterday, but I felt no better either.

Walking into the bathroom I went about preparing a bath and getting undressed.  This suit was so much easier to get off when I still has both my arms, took me a while after losing my arm to figure out how to do it effectively with one.  I cringed as the fabric rubbed against my chest as I took it off, now that was really getting on my nerves.  They weren’t bruised or anything, so I was having trouble still blaming it on Eryk's inept first aid skills.  With a frown I looked myself over in the mirror, I was beginning to look as bad as I felt.  I had been so concerned with this I’ve just let everything else go the past few days.  I should have been working on just putting up with it instead of concerning myself so much, I probably wasn’t helping matters any.  If Tyra couldn’t do anything, it was a good bet the clerics wouldn’t be able to either, and if that was the case I’d really have no choice but to learn to live with this.  As if on cue I felt my stomach lurch, and found myself washing a horrid taste from my mouth again a few moments later.  Yeah...that was an appealing idea.

With a content sigh I eased myself into the warm water.  Simply could not stress enough how good this felt after how I’ve been feeling.  After I washed myself thoroughly I just sat in the tub, planning to savor this moment for as long as I could before Eryk showed up.  Hm, had I remembered to lock the front door?  I let the thought leave my mind as I found myself falling asleep again, as much sleep as I got I was still exhausted and was too comfortable right now to argue with what my body wanted.

There was a dull ache in my abdomen as the energy compressed on me further.  Rune inscribed stones slowly fell from the ceiling and walls around me, the floor began to buckle beneath me.  I awoke with a start, my hand unconsciously moved to my abdomen as the feelings from the dream slowly faded.  These dreams seemed to be getting more intense in feeling as they went, I couldn’t help but think that spell did more to me then just fry me. That thought was quickly forgotten however.

I jumped as I heard the sound of a shoe hitting tile, I turned to see someone looking down the hallway before slowly looking my way.  The figure let out a startled gasp at seeing me.  With a shrill scream I quickly shouted out the words of an offensive spell, my nausea getting better of me again disrupting it completely.  Instead I grabbed the nearest object I could get my hands on, a bar of soap, and whipped it at the figure.  It stumbled backwards and a bit down the hallway as the soap struck it squarely in the nose.  In a panic I grabbed a towel and jumped from the tub, stumbling towards the door doing my best to ignore my dizziness and wrap the towel around me in an attempt to stay decent.  Hitting the door closed I collapsed backwards against it, panting heavily, and visibly shaking.  From outside the door I heard a groan, and the sound of knocking.

“Ugh....  Good morning to you too.  Sorry, I didn’t know you were in there.”  I heard a voice say apologetically.  Wait, that voice....

I opened the door a crack and looked out, there sat Eryk nursing a bloodied nose.  Opening the door the rest of the way I just sat there ashamed, unable to think of the right way to apologize.  I couldn’t believe I panicked like that, I didn’t even know what came over me....gods, could I use my magic right now, I might have accidentally....  Burying my face in my hand I began to cry uncontrollably, had that spell worked I could have killed him, and because of what?
I could hear him crawl across the tile, and felt his arms wrap around me.  “Elryn?  What’s wrong, what happened?”  He asked, obviously very concerned. Gently he lifted my head and held my chin in his hand, but I couldn’t bring myself to look into his eyes, not after what I almost did.  Instead I just wrapped my arm around him and sat there crying onto his shirt.  Sitting there in his arms I lost complete track of time, I could have been there a minute, I could have been there an hour, it just didn’t matter at the time.

“I’m sorry...” I told him quietly, finally having regained my composure.  I don’t even know what came over me, I had never worried much about what I almost did...only that which I did.  So why did this bother me so much?  But then those incidents always involved just me, I had never gotten him involved before, never almost....

“No need, I’m fine, nothing a small spell can’t heal.” He replied with a slight chuckle.

“....No, you...you don’t understand.” I said as I gently pulled myself free of him.  “I can’t seem to control myself, I almost killed you because I panicked...”  I stood up carefully, both to avoid the usual and to keep the towel from coming loose.

He also got to his feet and walked up next to me as I washed my face off in the sink, trying to at least make myself look presentable again, I looked a mess after crying for gods know how long.  “Don’t worry, we’ll go talk to Tyra , sounds like you need her type of healing a lot more then you need a cleric.  What was it that scared you so much?  I’ve never seen you like that before.”

I fixed up my hair a bit pondering just how to answer that. “I, it was just a nightmare, you came in just as I woke up.”  I couldn’t tell him the absolute truth, but I didn’t really think of the dreams as nightmares.  Its not like they scared me, how could they, I had already lived through the events.  Okay, even I didn’t believe that one, they did scare me, I wouldn’t have panicked if they didn’t.  They wouldn’t bother me if I could recall the events happening in them, but I don’t, they were new to me and that more then anything bothered me.

He placed a hand softly on my shoulder.  “I’m sorry. ...if its any help, with aim like you’ve got...” he said, rubbing his bruised nose. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”  He said with a laugh in a blatant attempt to cheer me up.  It worked very nicely, just being near him usually did.

“That was a good throw, wasn’t it.” I replied with a giggle then stepped back and pointed at him accusingly.  “Walk in on me taking a bath again though, and I’ll make sure to shove the soap UP your nose instead of just wounding it.”  I stated with the most menacing voice I could manage and an evil grin across my face.

He reached up and held his nose protectively.  “...Um...I’ll wait in the living room, let you finish getting ready.”  He replied with a nervous chuckle as he quickly skittered out of the room.

He always did have the ability to put me in a good mood, even in my present state.  Go from hysterically crying only a short while ago to laughing and joking around.  That was almost a disturbing thought in and of itself, I’ve heard of insane people whose moods switched this erratically before.  Finishing up I looked myself over in the mirror again, a vast improvement over how I looked beforehand.  Making my way into my room I went about getting dressed again, deciding to wear my hair down today but with the usual robe and body suit underneath.  Concentrating on the robe, its colors began to shimmer and change before settling with red trimming and the rest of it a dark blue.  

Lastly I checked my schedule for today, noticing to my dismay I had a class on offensive magic today.  I muttered to myself knowing very well I still couldn’t use magic.  I had managed to avoid the same unpleasant effect I suffered yesterday when I tried killing Eryk earlier, but I still lost my concentration.  Worse yet I wasn’t sure if I could resist again if I was standing, my nausea always felt worse when I was on my feet and I can’t very well ask them to let me take class laying down.  Would be fun to see if my aim laying down with a fire dart was as good as my aim with soap though.  I laughed at the mere thought of it, poor Eryk must be worried out of his head about me after what I just did and here I was laughing about nearly breaking his nose with a bar of soap.

“Okay come on, lets get this over with.” I told Eryk as I walked out into the living room.  Well partial living room, most of Merick’s house had books strewn pretty much everywhere.  And would most likely have even more after he returned, I keep telling him he should build an extra library room but he never listens.  Heck, I offered for myself and Eryk (I’m sure he wouldn’t mind) to help build it, surely if my ritual building took that amount of energy to destroy I could help him build a nice sturdy library addition.

“Well you’re awfully bossy for someone who was hysterical not twenty minutes ago.”  He added with concern, nudging me back to the right path of thought.

I lowered my head slightly.  “Yes, about that...I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Tyra can give some clue as to what’s wrong.  First of all though, have you had breakfast yet?”

I rubbed my stomach slightly at the idea, unlike yesterday it didn’t seem to have any objections, and despite the nausea I was in fact absolutely starving.  “Does breakfast yesterday count?”  I replied with a small grin.

“...Don’t tell me thats all you’ve had to eat since yesterday?”

“I won’t then.  Lets just say I’m starving and leave it at that, okay?

He placed a hand on his forehead and shook his head.  “Then we’ll get you something to eat first, I’m sure Tyra will understand us being a little late in this case.”  Grabbing me by the hand he pulled me outside and we walked to the local tavern, inn, (not that we ever actually got visitors) and just general hangout spot for most of the town.

I’m sure I made an absolute pig of myself, but what could I say, I was starving and this was the best place in town.  It was the only place, but that wasn’t the point.  Surprisingly Eryk even helped with lunch it seemed, which only made this day even better, I guess it was to make up for not taking him up on that offer for dinner last night.  I couldn’t help but notice the strange looks Aruc gave us the whole time we ate.  What ran through that mans head is beyond me, but I was sure it usually involved him, women, and a lively night in his room....and now he was giving both of us that look.  As if I could ever, with Eryk....we’re only good friends after all.  Even if maybe, just maybe, I felt a little more for him.  I could never just up and tell him, I’d only embarrass myself if he didn’t share them, he’d have said something by now if he did anyways.  He’s never been good at hiding things from me.  With both of us very full we headed off for Tyra’s at last.

The door opened before we even reached the house and Adel stepped out.  “Morning Eryk, Elryn.”  She said with a smile.  I had noticed her around Tyra and at home many times in the past, and it always amazed me how different her overall mood was then when she was out on her own.  “Come on in, Tyra’s been waiting for you.”

I couldn’t help but look around curiously as I walked in.  Tyra’s home was always so well kept, unlike that mess of a house Merick called home.  Adel was lucky to have her as a teacher...and mother.  She wasn’t her real mother but they’ve been together as long as anyone can remember.  I only know this because Tyra mentioned it to me one night, after I lost my arm actually, while I was talking to her about my parents and such.  I joke about it now but I was a total wreck after that accident.  Not being the most religious of girls I didn’t quite feel comfortable talking to the clerics, Tyra was the next best thing.  Her and Eryk have helped me more since my arrival then I could ever hope to repay, even Adel in her own odd little ways.  Of course, I was sure Eryk had no idea how often I had come to her in the past, I’d usually visit her during his classes or even late at night on occasions.

“Morning Elryn, Eryk.”  Tyra said with a smile as we all walked into the room.

“Morning.” Eryk replied with a slight wave.

I smiled back in kind as I sat down.  “Good morning..  I’m sure these two...” I shot a glance at both Adel and Eryk.  “...have told you why I’m here.”

“Of course.” She added with a chuckle.  “I’m sure they realize how important privacy is too.”

Adel smiled at us and waved before leaving the room, dragging Eryk out with her.  Quite sure if he could have he’d have stayed for the whole thing.

“It’s been to long since you’ve been around, you know it?”  Tyra stated as we heard the door outside close, signaling that they’ve left the house.

“I’d have dropped by sooner, but you know...in all fairness I did drop by a few weeks ago.  Then with the explosion, unconsciousness, school work, hard to fit a good talk in between all that.”  I replied with a laugh with which she quickly joined in.

“But, we should probably get down to business, you wouldn’t want to worry Eryk more.”

“Adel will probably be telling him what’s going on, she’s only right outside.”  I relied with a wide smile.

“So you did know after all?”  She asked curiously.  “Adel may want to, but she won’t tell him all the details depending how things turn out.”

“I’ve known for a while, she doesn’t try to hide it when she’s around you.  And she’s usually around you when I’m here....why is that?  She’s never around when anyone else visits, but usually sits down here with us when I’m here.  It's also how I know she can keep a secret.”

Tyra just sort of shrugged. “You’d have to ask her...  But now you’re just stalling Elryn.”  She stated rather sternly.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice so fast...” I said with a little smirk.  She was right, I was just trying to kill time now.  Even though that did have me curious, I could have asked anytime.  It was just that as much as I knew I should be here and should have whatever is wrong with me taken care of, I was still leery about it all.

“That’s a lie and you know it, this illness has you worried or you wouldn’t even bother with it.”  Standing up she walked over to me as I stood up as well.  She was of course right again, whatever this was it truly had me worried, even more so after the incident today.  “Now, lets see...”

I shied away from her touch as she reached for me.  “...Can’t I just tell you where I feel off?  I’d rather not put you through what I’m going through if we don’t have to.”

“Elryn!” She shouted scoldingly.  “You know how this works, now hold still.”  I cringed as she yelled my name.  I knew there was no way of talking her out of it and not entirely sure why I even tried.  Without another word I removed my robe and left it on the couch.  She started as she usually did, resting her hands on my shoulders and concentrating.  After a moment I heard her feet shuffling on the floor and her hands leave my shoulders, I turned around and saw her standing in a position I’ve found myself in several times now.  Leaning against something, a table in this case, with a hand resting on her stomach.

I hurried over to her side and helped her with her balance.  “Here, sit down a moment, it usually helps me.”

Tyra shook her head.  “No....I can handle it.  I just wasn’t expecting all that so fast, gods Elryn, you’ve been going through that three days now?”  She asked with concern as she shook the symptoms from her mind.

“Yes...Do you know what it is?”  I asked hopefully.  “They tend to change a lot, worse one moment, better the next.  Laying or sitting down helps, standing up too quickly is extremely unpleasant...trying to use magic is even worse.”  I added in hopes that with what she just felt and any other information I could give she could tell me what I’ve got.

She only frowned.  “Elryn, dear...I honestly don’t know.  I’ll do whatever I can for you, but I’ve never felt anything quite like it before.  I’ve got some herbs around here that can at least help with the nausea a bit.  If you’ll undo that suit a bit I can at least deal with the bruising to your chest, how did that happen anyway?”

That was by no means the news I wanted to hear.  You really did it this time didn’t you Elryn, screwed yourself up so badly even Tyra can’t figure out what’s wrong.  At least she could hopefully do something about Eryks first aid screw up.  “Oh Eryk mummified me after the accident and wrapped my chest far too tight, they’ve been tender ever since.”  I said as I undid a bit of my suit, a tad embarrassed to be doing so in front of her.

She cocked her head in confusion as she examined me.  “Now that’s odd...  Are you sure it was Eryk’s doing?  I can’t see anything wrong, there is otherwise there wouldn’t be any pain, but I don’t see anything.”  I backed up a step and covered myself up again after she poked and prodded a few moments, by no means making matters better.  “Sorry about that...”  She said apologetically as I pulled away.  “...but I couldn’t help but also notice...  That large scar you had, the one from your shoulder across your right breast, its gone.”  Tyra looked absolutely baffled by this point, I don’t think I had ever seen her so dumbfounded over anything before, and certainly not when it came to healing.

Now that she mentioned it I remembered again, I noticed when I woke up but with all that has happened it slipped my mind.  I even spent a while this morning looking myself over and I missed that fact, guess I was so used to seeing them I just didn’t acknowledge them anymore.  “My spell may have had a hand in that somehow...I don’t know how, but look at me.  Five weeks unconscious after what I did, it had to have been the latent energies from my spell that healed me, it’s the only explanation.”

Tyra seemed to consider this for a minute.  “That is possible I guess, odd, but then I’ve never dealt with that amount of energy before, nor do I know what your spell was doing.  That the case I don’t understand why it left you in the state you’re in.”  She sighed and paced back and forth for a moment, a worried frown apparent on her face.  “There’s no physical damage, or illness that I can find, my magic won’t be of any use.”  She muttered to herself as she continued to pace, seemingly remembering something as she paced by the kitchen door.  “The least I can do is give you some herbs to help settle your stomach some, and maybe something to help keep your head clear.”  Wandering back over to me she rested her hand on my shoulder.  “I’m sorry Elryn...  Truly I am, forgive me.”  She added, her voice full of hopelessness, the poor woman seemed on the verge of tears over all this.

Unsure what else to do I just gave her a reassuring hug.  “Its not your fault.”  I told her quietly, looking up into her dark blue eyes.  “Come on now, smile...  I’ve been through dozens of accidents and a lost arm, I made it through those, I can make it through this.  Its not so bad once you get used to it.”  I told her with a smile and soft laugh.  It wasn’t entirely a lie, I was indeed gradually getting used to this.  For as troublesome as its been so far, I had no idea how long it’d be until whatever this was cleared up.  No matter what now though I was going to have to put up with it and just move on.  If I could learn to cast magic with one arm, there was absolutely no way I was going to let a few bouts of nausea stop me!

Tyra looked down at me a moment, her eyes showed signs of tearing up.  A moment later a broad smile crossed her face and she embraced me in a hug as well.  “Ahh Elryn, here I am losing my composure right in front of you, and you’re strong as ever.”  She slowly let go and ran her hand over my head, Tyra was one of the few people I’d let do that without snapping at them.  “You’re allowed to be openly concerned Elryn, none of us will think any less of you. You tried the same thing after you lost your arm...”

“And you’re still the only one who really knows how bad off I really was.”

“I know this has you worried and you know you can’t hide it from me, but you shouldn’t try so hard to hide it from Eryk.”

I sighed and just let myself fall backwards onto the sofa again.  “He worries about me enough as it is, you know that too.  I don’t like seeing him all upset about me, he does stupid things to try and protect me when he thinks I need it, and....” Memories of what happened this morning flashed through my mind, I could see my vision blur as tears filled my eyes again.

“Oh Elryn...” Trya said in a soft tone as she sat down next to me and wiped a tear from my cheek.

“I just...I don’t want to see him hurt because of me, I don’t know what I’d do if that happened.”  I rubbed at my eyes, trying my best to calm down, it was embarrassing to bawl my eyes out over something I knew I had no control of.  Eryk was going to worry and do what he could for me no matter what I said to him or anyone else.  It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate it deeply...because I did, he’s been my best friend since my arrival here.  He was one of the few people not to pick on me at first, the little girl (both in age and size) with delusions of grandeur.  It was just that he meant a lot to me, I didn’t want to see anything happen to him because of me.

She smiled at me. “See, you can control yourself.”  I guess it didn’t surprise me that she knew what the other thing bothering me about this illness were.  “You’re a strong girl Elryn, I’ve told you this many times before.  Don’t let your worries get the best of you.  If you feel yourself losing control just stop and give yourself time to calm down.”  

The more I thought about it the more I realized she was right, if I let myself get worked up I only wound up making matters worse. It sounded so easy when I put it like that though, I only hoped it would prove as easy in practice as it was in theory.  So far I’ve just found myself panicking needlessly and crying over little things, but what if I ended up really getting angry at someone and did more then just yell like I did to Thern?  Slowly I got to my feet knowing I’d need to be getting to classes soon.  “I’d love to stay and talk longer, you’ve been so much help as usual...  But class will be starting soon.”

Tyra nodded.  “I understand.  If you check back tonight I should have those herbs all ready for you.”

“You wouldn’t have anything available now, would you?  I’ve got offensive training today, and casting magic is a very unpleasant experience right now.”  I asked hopefully while idly playing with a bit of my robe.

“Sorry, no.  I’m honestly not entirely sure what to use, that’s why it’ll take so long.  I don’t want to occidentally give you the wrong herbs and worsen matters.”  That was understandable, herbs could be picky things, especially when dealing with someone who was ill.

“Oh...”  I was afraid of that, damn.  As if my yelling at Thern didn’t get me enough attention, collapsing and vomiting in the middle of class was sure to get me tons.  My stomach growled at the mere thought of it.
    
Tyra grinned as she stood up.  “It's not like you to worry about such a thing you know.  What happened to that ‘I’ll do it no matter what’ attitude I’m so used to seeing?”

“It’s sick and resting in bed, where I should be.” I replied with a smile and a small snicker.  “Okay, fine, I’ll try.  I’m blaming it on you if I make a fool of myself though.”

I gave her a small hug and a thanks as she walked me to the door, it seemed such a small thing for how much she had done for me, but for her it seemed like the greatest thing I could have given her.  She reminded me of my own mother in several ways, and even treated me as though I was one of her own daughters, much the way she did Adel.  It was clear her and Adel had been together for years though, for that reason I’d never dream of saying anything to either of them about it.  I frequently talked about my parents to her but I’ve never told her what happened to them, I had never told anyone.

“All done?”  Asked Eryk quickly as I opened the door.  I jumped a bit and let out a small shriek, not having expected him to be standing right in front of the door like that.  Both him and Adel laughed at my reaction, clearly they had conspired against me.

“Yep, all finished.  Now come on before we’re late for class.”  I tugged his arm as I left the house, waving to Tyra and Adel as I went.  Adel probably had classes later today some time.

“What, not even a hello?  I’m doing fine now?  You could have at least asked her to do something for my nose you know.”  He said as he rubbed his poor nose.

“Oh right, your nose...it completely slipped my mind.” I chuckled.  “It looks...well, almost fine.  Just a little red, perhaps a tad crooked too.  You can ask Tyra to fix it after your classes though, come on, we’re going to be late at this rate.”  He remained pretty much quiet the rest of the way, I guess he figured the way I was acting was a good indication Tyra had done a wonderful job as usual and I was fine now.  Well while I still felt sick, it was true that I did feel loads better, even if it was only emotionally.  Yawning I realized I forgot one thing, I was still unusually tired, I should have asked her for something to help me stay awake.  That too would work against me when trying to cast something, if I didn’t fall over too sick to move, I’d collapse from exhaustion.  Neither seemed particularly appealing, apparently I was about to find out just how far I could stretch willpower alone.    

Classes that day went pretty well all things considered.  I managed to stay awake through them all, that was a definite plus.  As expected I received a few comments from people about yesterdays little event, a minor annoyance but little else.  Last class of the day was offensive magic, that class met down by the beach near a large outcropping of rocks.  Incidentally the same one that was used for the swordsmanship class sometimes.  It was a surprisingly small class today, only five other students beside myself.  Mrs. Kian taught this class, she was one of the better mages at the academy, although her primary focus was on destructive spells.

“Why Elryn..”  She said with more then a little surprise to her voice as she walked over to me.  “I wasn’t expecting to see you here so soon.”

I just smiled and chuckled softly.  “You can’t expect a little thing like that to stop me, do you?”

“No I guess I didn’t.  Well lets see if it hurt that aim of yours any.”  She said with a laugh before walking back to the other students.  I followed suit with a grin on my face, always did like Mrs. Kian.  A serious enough woman when need be, but not overly so.

“Okay, we’re all here.  Now then..”  She said as she clasped her hands together in front of her.  “Lets get started.  You all know how to cast the minor offensive spells I’m assuming, so I’ll skip that and go right on to the fun stuff.”  Clearly she said that first bit for the sake of the two new students, or new to me at least, I wasn’t sure how long they had actually been here.  She motioned to several small painted rocks of varying sizes and distances away.  “Now using a simple fire dart, I want you to hit the nearest one.  Simple, eh?”  She stated rather simply as she stood there drumming her fingers against one another.

The first student walked up to the mark and readied himself.  I didn’t recognize the face so he must have been a new one, as he was in this class already he had to have at least some degree of skill though.  Weaving a small pattern with his hands and muttering a word a small bolt of flame projected from his hands towards the rock.  It was just a small spell so neither the casting nor spell itself were particularly impressive.

Mrs. Kian chuckled to herself as the bolt flew towards the rock.  The air around the rock rippled with a green tint as the bolt struck something and was sent careening back at him.  Eyes wide he dove out of the way as the bolt missed skimming his shoulder by a few inches.  “Oh yes, I forgot to mention.” She added with a playful smile.  “There’s a barrier around the targets.  Sooo...remember to channel more energy into your spell in order to pierce it.  The first ones easy, they get stronger as you go down the line.”  Now this was the kind of trick I was expecting out of her.  A barrier as strong as she was probably using on the other rocks, judging by how many of them there were, was probably only designed to fend off magical attacks.  They were useless for fending off physical attacks, but were very effective indeed at keeping magical energy out.  “Okay, next.”  She stated looking towards the rest of us.

“Hey!  That’s not fair, you never...”  The student started to say before Mrs. Kian cut him off.

“In a battle your opponent isn’t going to warn you if they’re protected.” She stated rather matter of factly.  “Now, next...  Miss M’Len, lets see how well you’ve recovered.”

“Her?!”  He asked in a shocked tone.  “But she’s only got one arm, how does she expect to cast anything?”  He said in a rather smug voice.  Yep, this punk was definitely new.

“Shut up and watch a competent mage at work.”  I stated as I pushed him aside and took my place.  Mrs. Kian walked over and made sure he’d remain quiet and out of my way.  He was right on one thing at least, casting magic with only one arm was a tricky task, as most spells used both hands to weave the necessary patterns.  A small magical word starts the process, the mage then weaves the pattern with their hands, this is essentially to focus the spells energy.  Because of this one handed casting was usually considered impossible....usually, I proved them wrong on that matter, took me nearly a year to figure it out but I finally did it.  There were of course spells that didn’t needs the hands at all, the ice shard I was aiming at Eryk for one, but that of course wasn’t the spell she told us to use.  Come to think of it, we rarely used anything but flame darts, I rather think her and her husband just like the smell of burnt students.  Taking a deep breath I went about casting the spell, I could feel the magical energy gathering within me, flowing through my body.  My body however didn’t at all like that.  I collapsed weakly to one knee as I become too nauseated to finish.

“No, let her do it on her own.”  I heard Mrs. Kian say from behind as I caught a glimpse of someone walking towards me.  “Can you continue Elryn?”

“Yes...yes, I’m fine.”  I held my stomach for a moment, waiting for it to calm down a little before slowly getting to my feet.

I didn’t need to see her face to know Mrs. Kian had a smile on it.  She seemed to like my never give up type attitude, to an extent of course.  I knew if I didn’t get this soon she’d eventually make sure I stopped to prevent harming myself.

“Why the hells does she get another turn?”  I heard the punk ask in a sharp voice as he demanded an answer.

“You do what she did and return to class a day after recovering, and I’ll give you a few chances too.”  She calmly stated, the other students nearby laughed.  How I wished I could have seen the look on his face.

“Come on Elryn, show him what you can do!”  One of them chimed in.

I couldn’t say I had a lot of confidence after that first try unfortunately but it was good to know someone did at least.  Again I tried, I couldn’t help but notice that still the energy from the spells felt funny somehow as it flowed through me.  And again my stomach didn’t feel like letting me finish, I staggered backwards a bit and collapsed to my knees with a few select curses muttered, all my willpower going to stave off the nausea.  To worsen matters I felt ready to fall asleep right here and now, I had not expected such a little spell to drain me so fast like this.

“Elryn, if you’re not well en...”  Mrs. Kian started to say, she sounded a bit concerned.

“No!”  I snapped back at her.  “If not getting any better, I’m going to get this if it kills me.”  I grumbled under my breath as I unsteadily tried to get to my feet.

“May, why don’t you give her a hand.”  I heard her ask one of the students.  May had been here three years now, a nice girl, and decent mage all around.

“I can do it on my own...”  I said back to them in a low angered tone.

“Okay, but this is the last time whether you like it or not, I don’t want to see you hurting yourself because you’re too stubborn to admit you’re not well.”

I could easily admit I was not well, I however wasn’t about to admit a little cold had gotten the best of me.  It took me a moment to regain my footing and steady myself again.  Third times the charm, or so the saying goes, gods I hoped that held true.  For the last time I started the spell, it still nagged me that something about my magic was off but I couldn’t put a finger on it, and until I could reliably start using it again it would be impossible to tell what.  I concentrated on the energy and gathered as much as quickly as could, my vision blurred and I could feel my stomach lurch on me again.  I stumbled back a few steps but my concentration held true, I somehow managed to continue, I was not going to fail again! My vision blurred more a second before I shouted the last word to finish the spell.  The energy gathered and solidified in front of me, I could see the tiny bolt speed off towards the rock as my vision quickly dimmed to black.  My knees gave out under me, I heard a few gasps around me, and felt myself limply hit the sand.  What seemed like an eternity in reality only took a few seconds.

“Here give me a hand with her, we’ll take her over to those rocks to rest.”  I heard someone say, everything too fuzzy to make out who.  I didn’t even have the energy to protest anymore, physically or verbally.  I could hear the sounds of a spell being cast, and a hand on my shoulder.  It was then I felt the oddly familiar energy of a healing spell coursing through me.  Gradually my vision returned to normal, I was still exhausted but could at least move now, kind of.  Mrs. Kian and the other students, even the punk, were around me.

“You know better then to exhaust yourself like that Elryn.”  Mrs. Kian said waving a finger scoldingly.

I idly rubbed my very upset stomach, it was a wonder I had managed to resist as it was.  “Did I hit it?” I asked weakly with a small smirk.

She grinned at me, a few of the students chuckled slightly in the background, but shook her head a little.  “Now sit, rest, you shouldn’t be using magic so soon after your accident anyway.”  She looks around at the others.  “What are you all standing around for, go, we still have a class to finish.”  She waved her arms for them to go as she walked back to the targets, most of the students behind her.

“Ugh...what are you still here for?”  I asked the punk as I looked up at him.

He gave a chuckle and a smirk in response.  “Okay, so you can cast with one arm...I’m impressed.  Do it without passing out next time and you might be worth my time.”  He stated in a rather smug tone before nodding and heading back to the group.  Man there were so many fun little things I’d do to him right now if I could, shame they all involved moving, or magic, neither of which I was very capable of right now.  Mrs. Kian was of course right, I shouldn’t have pushed myself like that, but I had to, I needed to at least prove to myself I could still use my magic. To my delight I still could, it took everything I had and then some, but I still could.

The rest of the class was at least mildly interesting to watch.  It was most fun just to watch the students scramble out of the way of their own spells when misjudging the power of the barriers.  Shame that didn’t happen more often, would have been an even better to watch.  It was vastly satisfying to watch that little punk fail so many times as opposed to the others.  Next chance I got I’d have to show that arrogant bastard what a little one armed mage could really do.  That would have to come later though, now I just needed to find the energy to stand up under my own power.  No way I thought I’d leave myself feeling this drained after just that, maybe Tyra has something for this too.  Gods no, what was I thinking?  Last thing I need is to end up taking a dozen herbs a day just to counteract some annoyances I know I can get past on my own.  Maybe Eryk (Okay, everyone else too.) was right and I really have been pushing myself too hard, maybe that’s why I only seem to be getting worse.  Even Tyra couldn’t do anything, what if my spell was slowly killing me....

“Going to just sit there all day Miss M’Len?”

“Hm?” I murmured as I look up, shaking the morbid thought from my head.  “Oh, Mrs. Kian...” I responded a bit absentmindedly.

She looked down at me a bit curiously. “You seem to have a lot on your mind today.  Go home Elryn, get some sleep, you look like you need it.”

I gave her an odd little grin and tried to pull myself off the rock, collapsing backwards onto it again. “I would, but it seems I still can’t stand.”  I added with a soft chuckle, it wasn’t even particularly funny.

She sighed, grabbed my hand, and helped pull me to my feet where I stood rather unsteadily for a moment before gaining my balance.  “Now, go home, rest.”  She practically commanded before wandering off herself.  She always had been a very blunt woman.  The walk back to town was agonizingly slow, and quite boring, my thoughts were the only thing to occupy my mind.  That wasn’t necessarily pleasant as I’d have liked it though, thoughts of my illness, the spell, the dreams, all of them still raced through my mind.  What I really needed was something to occupy myself with, something to take my mind off all this.  I usually never spent this much time just doing nothing, I’d be off somewhere practicing my magic, screwing with potions, plotting my next experiment, even just talking with people around the academy.  I felt too bad to do any of that effectively right now, that was the problem, all this nothing was driving me stir crazy.

I trudged into Merick’s house and collapsed on the first piece of furniture available, a small rather beaten up wooden chair.  Eryk wouldn’t be around for another few hours, my classes ended early for the day but his schedule was rather full today.  My consciousness slowly slipped from me as sleep took its hold, thoughts of him in my head.

The globe of energy around me grew smaller as more of it was compressed into my tiny frame.  The dull ache in my abdomen grew to a wracking pain, it felt as though my insides were being twisted around.  Yet I stood my ground despite the pain and the scene I saw around me, I knew well enough if I gave in now I will have failed.  I wasn’t about to accept that, not after all I’ve gone through for this....I wasn’t going to let my parents down again.

I nearly fell out of the chair as I awoke with a start, reality quickly snapping back on me.  The sky was already dark by time I was awake, I didn’t realize I had slept so long.  With a sigh I carefully got to my feet, apparently a bit unsteady yet and still feeling the after effects of the dream.  I could still feel the pain gradually fade away, I’ve never had such vivid dreams before.  I paced around the house for a bit just thinking to myself, it was too late to visit Tyra, and Eryk was likely asleep long ago.  That’s it, a walk sounded good right about now.  I grabbed a warm cloak off the rack and walked outside, as expected it was a beautiful night out.
 
The sky was clear, the moons shone brightly overhead, and the air had a slight chill to it signaling the gradual approach of fall.  The whole town was asleep by now, the only light beside the moons was the occasional life sphere that floated by.  They floated seeming randomly during all times of the day but the gentle glow they gave off made them the most noticeable, and beautiful, during the night.  It is said that during a war eons ago the ancients nearly wiped out all life on the planet beside themselves, this wasn’t their first war, and it wasn’t their last, yet scholars agree that apart from their downfall it was by far the worst.  The spheres were their solution to the problem they created, an enchantment of untold power lain upon the planet itself.  All sentient life is derived from these spheres, a force controlled neither by the ancients nor humans today, but solely by the planet. I reached up at one as it passed by and felt the strange warmth of it as it passed over my hand.  I wondered what the little thing would eventually become.

I lost track of time as I walked the outskirts of town with no particular destination in mind.  Just that for the first time in days I had something to occupy my mind a bit.  As night marched on I found myself dragging my tired body up the hill the springs resided on.  Being the highest spot on the island the view was simply spectacular from the top.  It was a long walk, more so in my state, but it was one that was very well worth it.  One could see most of the island from up here, even at night, under the light of the moons you could make out most major features of it.  In some respects the sight was even more breathtaking under the light of the moons.

The town resided near the middle of the island, most of it’s homes centered around a well in the middle of town and radiating outward from there.  The academy sat only a short ways north of it.  The academy itself, if not for being the largest structure in town, was also made differently.  Where the rest of the homes were made of wood it was entirely crafted stone, aged, weathered, and moss covered in places...but quite a sight all the same.  This little mountain here was on the south end of the island, and the entire island itself was dotted with thick forests.  The clearing I made even larger with my spell was also clearly visible from here.  The beaches and ocean around it were very rocky, great for training almost anywhere, though the academy stuck to a few small specific areas for classes, students were allowed to anywhere so long as it wasn’t around the town.  This was probably another reason we never got merchant ships and such, travel around it certainly wasn’t very safe to anyone not familiar with the area.  Not that anyone minded of course, the town could easily take care of itself and we’ve grown to rather like the privacy it granted.

Having spent a while observing the landscape I let myself lay sprawled out on the grass, staring up into the sky.  Myself and Eryk would do this on occasions, it was a shame he was asleep, that would have made this night even better.

“Will you settle for me?” I heard a rather familiar voice ask.

I let out a startled shriek as I sit up quickly. “Darn it Adel, don’t do that!  Nearly scared me to death.”

She giggled as she walked over and sat next to me. “Beautiful night out, isn’t it...”  She idly stated, looking out over the island.

“Very..” I said quietly, letting myself fall backwards onto the grass again.  “Surprised to see you out so late.”

She looked over at me, the light reflecting off those white eyes of hers.  I had always found those eyes of hers interesting, not in the eerie sense most of the town seemed to regard them, more as a curiosity.  After all, I’ve had people shy away from me because of my eyes, (I rather like them myself, but apparently something about iridescent purple eyes makes some people uneasy) I knew the feeling.  “I go out at night a lot, with the town asleep, its so quiet.”  She replied with a smile, the calm type I was used to seeing her use when she was around Tyra.  “Except tonight of course, its good to know you’re feeling a little better.”  She added out of nowhere.  Guess in a way she was right, as sick as I still felt I hadn’t noticed it much tonight, my mood had not been quite as erratic since I started my walk.

I gave her a small laugh before replying. “Perhaps...maybe I should do this more often in that case.  Hey, how did you find me anyway?”  I asked curiously, propping myself up on my elbow.

She giggled softly.  “The rest of the towns asleep, so everyone is quiet....except you.  You were easy to find.”  I couldn’t argue with that logic, I knew she could sense emotions, and I have probably stood out lately with how much my moods been screwing with me.

Quietly I laid down with a yawn, my hand resting on my belly.  I could hear shuffling around, sounded like Adel was rooting through a bag.

“Pretty things, aren’t they...”  She stated quietly as she set a life sphere on me.

I lifted my head up a little to look at it, carefully picking it up in my hand.  They had a very unique feeling to them, seemingly only a ball of floating light they had actual substance to them, solid yet fragile.  Kind of had a warm, oddly fuzzy feeling to them, just without the fuzz. (Gods that sounds strange even to me.) Strange though, if I didn’t know better I’d have sworn it got brighter as I held it.  What was Adel doing with this anyways?

Adel sat for a moment and just stared at me and the little sphere, playing with the end of her hair occasionally. “They have an interesting mental feeling.”  She commented to me almost nervously.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that.” I replied with a grin.  It didn’t actually bother me that Adel would up and answer things I haven’t asked, or even something I wasn’t planning on asking, it was just awkward.  “So, what do these things feel like?”  I asked her as I ran my thumb over the ‘surface’ of the sphere, it did indeed seem to be getting brighter, wonder why.  There was something nagging in the back of my head, I should know this, but couldn’t for the life of me remember at the moment.

Adel was still fiddling with her hair nervously as she answered.  “Well, its....um...I really can’t explain it actually.  Really is a strange feeling.”  With that said she reached over and gently placed a hand on the sphere, her other hand partially wrapped around mine as well.  She murmured a small spell as she did so, it was oddly long, but I could feel a warmth gradually wash over me.  I didn’t recognize the spell (but again the words sounded familiar, darn it, why couldn’t I place them?) But it felt like a healing spell of some kind, perhaps Tyra taught her a more powerful version of one.  The warmth slowly left me, feeling as though it took something else from me as well, and the sphere seemed to glow even brighter afterwards before she quickly stowed it in a small bag.  “You...you looked tired, that should help you feel a bit better, and sleep better.”  She added after putting away the sphere, and slowly getting to her feet.  “It’ll be dawn in a little bit, I should get back to town...  Do you want help back?”

I let my head lay on the ground again, slowly shaking it from side to side.  She was right, that spell was working, try as I might I could feel my eyelids beginning to droop.  “Nah, I think I’ll sleep here for the remainder of the night.  If you see Eryk though tell him where I am, he’ll worry if he doesn’t see me at home.”

She looked down at me and nodded. “Okay.  And Elryn.... Thanks.”  She added with a big smile in a very happy sounding voice.  She hugged the little bag she had the sphere in before practically skipping down the hill.  As if the dreams weren’t strange enough, there was always Adel to step up the oddness a few levels.  I laughed to myself for a bit before closing my eyes a few minutes later, sleep again slowly took hold of me.

***

After a warm shower I slowly went about getting ready for classes again.  They started the same time as Elryn’s today, but ran nearly until evening, which was a bit depressing since I knew there was a chance I wasn’t going to see much of her today.  Were she not feeling so sick this would have been one of the nights we’d spend time on the hills overlooking the island.  Unfortunately it was a fairly long walk there, and the cold weather would probably only worsen matters for her.  With a sigh I grabbed two swords and sheathed them at my waist, I’d have to try and not worry so much about her.  It was beginning to affect my ability to perform in class, and with swordsmanship today that could end up a painful lesson.  I grabbed something to eat from the kitchen quick before I made my way to her house, I sure hoped she was awake, she’d skin me alive if I actually carried out that threat to carry her to Tyra.

“Morning Elryn!” I shouted as I walked into the house.  No reply, darn it she was probably still asleep.  I waited in the living room (and I use the term loosely, more like a pile of books with paths through them to the furniture) for a few minutes in case she had heard me and was just busy getting dressed.

Probably against my better judgement I got up and decided to go check on her.  With how she had been feeling it was very possible she was just still asleep.  That guess turned out to be horribly wrong and for my efforts I was awarded a bar of soap to the nose and a hysterical Elryn to deal with.  I had never seen her quite like that before and all I could really find myself able to do to comfort the poor girl was to hold her in my arms for a bit.  She had remained huddled close to me for a little over half an hour before finally calming down enough to give a small explanation of what happened.  Not that I minded of course, I rather think I could have sat there with her all day had she wanted to. Luckily she didn’t stay in that state for long but the whole ordeal still had me worried for her.  More so because I didn’t quite believe the explanation she gave me...she was clearly hiding something from me but I couldn’t bring myself to pry.  To my further dismay however it turned out she had not eaten since the day before either.  I didn’t quite know what to do with her about what just happened but breakfast was at least a problem I could fix.

I grabbed her by the hand, pulled her outside and we both walked to the nearest (okay, only) inn in town.  It worked as a place for new students to live until they got a more permanent location, restaurant, and overall hang out spot for most of the town.  It was, as expected, one of the larger buildings in town.  Since she had passed up my offer for dinner the previous night, I decided to take this opportunity to make up for it.  The kitchen of the inn (It used to have an actual name, but few remember it anymore.  Everyone in town just calls it The Inn...so the names pretty much stuck over time.) was of course an impressive place, it had to be, it fed most of the town.  Like most everything else in town, the inn wasn’t necessarily run by just one person, same applied to the kitchen.  It was all a matter of who’s duty it was this week, but the cooks never minded the extra help.

“Cooking up another romantic meal for Elryn I see.”  Aruc asked with a laugh.  He was presently acting as the innkeeper for the time being.  Come to think of it he’s taken the position of innkeeper for as long as I’ve been here, no one seemed to mind though.  He enjoyed it, and his loud talkative personality fit the position well.  He’s been acting innkeeper for so long in fact most considered this place officially his by now.  (The one who built the place died years ago, Aruc has had the position since) He wasn’t a very good cook, great bartender though, but a horrible cook.  The other cook on duty took his leave for a bit when I asked if I could whip something up for Elryn, we were the only ones in here at the moment anyway so he figured he’d give us some privacy.  Aruc however was another matter altogether.

“Cooking yes, far from romantic...” I replied as I went about gathering up the things I’d need for lunch.  A lot of stuff of course, not only for me but I was sure if Elryn was really that hungry I’d need quite a bit.

“Ah you’re just in denial, you two make a great couple.”  He stated with another hardy laugh and a rough slap on the back.  Oh yes, he was a very physical man too, how could I forget that.  His laughter was loud and full of life, the kind that could reach a person no matter how foul a mood they were in.

Digging through the cabinets I began to wonder just what I’d cook for us.  “Great couple...with the way we bicker?”  I quietly asked as I dug through the food available.  Not much available in the way of meat, after all livestock wasn’t exactly easy to raise unless the spheres cooperated.  The island was big enough, and the towns population small enough that the hunting was somewhat decent at least.

“Well of course lad, you two fight like an old married couple.”  He rested a hand on my shoulder and shook me slightly.  “Everyone in town can see it.”

I chuckled at the mere thought as I spoke the words to light the stove.  It like most other things in town was slightly enchanted, made life much easier for everyone.  What else was to be expected from a town full of magically inclined folk.  Not that a lot of it was recently enchanted though, some of the magical things around town dated back generations.  “You’ve been at this too long old man...” I said with a grin as I tapped his forehead with a spoon.  “We’re simply good friends.”

He casually stood next to me as I started cooking for a few moments, a strange grin on his face.  “You know boy....”  He stated as his smile widened.  “I have many a ‘good friend’ when I visit the mainland....”  I continued to go about preparing things, trying not to pay him too much mind.  “Lively friends, if you catch my meaning....”  I started to whistle to myself as I continued, hoping he’d get the hint.  “And that girl sitting out there is so much more lively around you.” He said with a sly grin and a quick jab to my ribs.

Blunt too, he was an amazingly blunt man.  I stared at him wide eyed for a moment as he let out another hardy laugh.  “Go!” I shouted as I picked up a pan.  “Before I brain you old man!”

“Ah you two’ll learn one day” He replied in between laughs as I chased him from the room, swinging the pan at his head a few times, deliberately missing of course, for effect.

“Crazy old man.” I mutter to myself with a soft chuckle as I return to cooking.  Such thoughts had never even crossed my mind, we were friends, nothing more.  We’ve been with each other for years though, since shortly after she first joined the academy.  She’s helped me through a lot, and I’ve stuck with her no matter what.  I did care deeply for her, but...no, the old mans just playing with my head.  It was nothing romantic, I loved her but...not in that way.  But then, would I even know it if I did?  Ah you’re nuts Eryk, even if you did she’d never go for it, she’d have said something by now if there were any feeling beside friendship between us.  I shook the thoughts from my head and returned to finishing up lunch, there were more important things to think about at the moment.  Right now, lunch was one of them.

I was glad I made as much as I did, Elryn ate more then I had expected, guess she really did go all of yesterday without a thing to eat.  Aruc gave me an odd little wink as we were making out way out the door towards Tyra’s place.

My stay inside once we arrived at Tyra’s was short to say the least.  Once we got the typical ‘good mornings’ out of the way Tyra was quick to note how important privacy would be to herself and Elryn.  I found Adel pulling me outside a few moments later.  Darn, had Tyra not said anything I’d have liked to stay.  Instead I wound up pacing around in front of the door.  What if it really was something serious, or worse yet, something Tyra couldn’t heal?  What if it was some magically altered illness...or maybe she did some physical damage to herself that didn’t heal with the rest?  What if it was...

“Stop that!”  Adel finally shouted in exasperation after listening to my incessant worrying for the past twenty or so minutes.

I nearly forgot I didn’t actually have to say something for her to hear me.  “Sorry...I’m just...”

“Yes I know you’re worried Eryk, so am I, but its not going to make matters better to be so loud about it.  Tyra is doing everything she can, be patient.”  She said reassuringly as she walked over to me.  There was something slightly off with her too though, she tried to hide it but she looked nervous about something.  Maybe it was just because we were outside, further from Tyra’s shielding.

“But its just...Adel, you didn’t see her this morning...”  Unconsciously thoughts of the incident earlier crossed my mind.

She sighed and put her hand on my shoulder.  “I just did, and Tyra will do whatever she can.”  She looked back at the house curiously a few moments, then turned back to me with a small smile across her face.  “You two are always worrying so much about each other...”

“Oh not you too.” I said with an exasperated sigh remembering the earlier conversation with Aruc.

She giggled slightly.  “But its true, you two already make a beautiful couple.  It’d be better if you’d both realize it.”  She added with a strange little grin on her face.  “Maybe not to the extent Aruc thinks, but its possible.”

“Adel!” I shout, unable to believe she just said that out of the blue like that.  It was bad enough to hear that from Aruc, I expected it from him, but from Adel?  I almost liked it better when she was too shy to talk.  “This isn’t fair you know, you can read my mind and I can’t yours.”  I walked over to the house again and tried to peer into the window.  “How are things going in there anyway?”  I ask her, trying to change the subject and because I was actually curious.

The smile disappeared from her face as she walked over to me. “Tyra’s going to give her something to help.”  She answered quietly, from her tone it sounded like she was hiding something from me.  Give her something?  Why couldn’t she simply heal her?  “She’s a strong girl, she’ll be just fine, especially with Tyra’s help.  But come on, she’s nearly done.”  She said with a small grin reappearing on her face as she pulled me over to the door, quickly changing the subject.

It was nice to see Elryn jump for a change when we both greeted her at the door afterwards.  Surprisingly she didn’t hit me or anything for it, just took my arm and dragged me off towards the academy saying how we’d be late and such.  Of course, she poked fun at my nose when I mentioned it, evil little thing she was indeed.  Her mood was definitely improved from what it was earlier, Tyra had apparently done her usual great job.  Yet, I couldn’t quite get it out of my head the way Adel acted when I asked her about Elryn’s progress.

As I went through classes for the day my worry gradually faded as I was forced to concentrate more on my work.  First few classes of the day were on ancient history, alchemy, and a short one on defensive magic.  No casting was needed for the defensive course today though, the teacher just went over a few spells, their mechanics, things along those lines.  Really quite interesting all in all, and just as helpful to a swordsman as it is to a wizard fighting from a distance.  My last few classes of the day were swordsmanship classes, they were always a lot of fun, but Mr Kian as well liked to have fun with us.  Much like his wife, who taught the offensive magic course, they both seemed to share the same evil sense of humor when it came to training students.  Nothing very harmful unless you got careless, but it was always enough to get across their point to never let ones guard down, never underestimate an opponent, and so on.  Todays lesson was appropriately enough on defense, against both a magical and physical attack.

Physical defense was fairly straight forward, he’d usually start out showing a few basic techniques then pit us against an illusionary opponent to see how well we had learned.  The illusions never did any physical harm, but still hurt like the hells when they struck.  Of course, defending against a non magical opponent may have been relatively straight forward, but that by no means made it any easier.

“Now magical defense, that is where things really get tricky.”  Mr Kian said as he paced in front of the class.  There were about nine other students beside myself, and a newcomer who appears to have just come from Mrs Kian’s offensive class. (Or so said the scorch marks on his robe.) “Ta most fighters, those not magically inclined that is, tha only thing to really do when ya’ve got a wizard winging spells at ya is to...”  He wheeled about quickly and let a small fire dart fly at the newcomer.  He dove out of the way, but not quite fast enough and the dart burned a path across his arm. “...Get yar arse out of the way!  Usually a bit more gracefully than tha though.”  He said with a laugh, the excitement only made his odd accent even more noticeable.  We wondered from just where on the mainland he came from to have developed it.  Having never heard anything quite like it most of us thought it was fake, more so as he seemed to occasionally forgot he was supposed to have one.

“Stupid old man...” The newcomer grumbled as he picked himself off the ground.

“Ay, watch it there boy or I’ll be sure to hit you with something ya won’t get up from next time.”  He growled, waving a sword in his direction.  The students chuckled, the newcomer scowled, and class continued on.  “Now despite new boy over there, I’m in a rather good mood today.  So I’ve got a fun little trick to teach all yas.”

We all looked at each other nervously as he leaned forward on his sword, his idea of fun usually dealt with us getting hurt learning lessons the hard way.  Such lessons were of course guaranteed to sink in mighty fast and not be forgotten easily, but that’s mostly because they were burned into your hide.  Okay, so perhaps I’m exaggerating a little...but only a little.

“Bah, ya all’ll have fun with this one for sure.”  He said with a sly little grin.  “I need someone to volunteer to hit me with a spell.  I know all of yas are just dying to.”  He planted the tip of his sword in the ground and stood with his hands behind his back.

Again most of us looked at each other nervously wondering what he had up his sleeve.  Not knowing any better, the newcomer stepped forward, confident thing he was.  Had to be at least moderately good to have made it into this class, but that was completely beside the point.

“Perfect...”  He casually said with a smirk.  “I knew ya’d want a chance at me.  Well take it, nothing big mind ya, wouldn’t want to hurt yaself now.”

The newbie just hissed in anger and started his spell.  The rest of us backed away from him a bit realizing he was going to do something stupid, it was obvious he was preparing a rather large spell.  Mr. Kian chuckled and shook his head but stood his ground.  Finishing the spell we saw a large fireball (about 2ft sphere, a fairly decent size for a fireball.  Much bigger then the tiny few inch long darts) fly from his hands and towards Mr. Kian.  In a blink of the eye he had his sword in his hand and...swung at the fireball?!  There was a flash as his sword struck the flaming ball.  It exploded as expected but the blast was directed back the way it came instead of at Mr Kian.  The newbie was knocked on his rear by the backlash of energy, his robes even more singed then before but otherwise no serious damage done to him.

Mr Kian let out a laugh as he walked over to the poor boy and helped him to his feet.  “Thar thar boy, ya just learned what all them have learned.  Never trust a smiling mage.”  He added with a wink.  “Whats ya name boy?”

The newbie however seemed far from amused as he brushed himself off best he could.  “Vin...”  He growled.  Apparently this one wasn’t used to being made a fool of.

“Ahh yes, Gren brought ya didn’t he.”  Mr Kian added with a shake of his head and a slight sigh.  Gren never did have good taste in potential students, to him the bigger the ego, the better they’d learn.  He had his moments, which is the only reason the town elders let him bring potential students anymore at all, but a lot of what he’d pick ended up leaving the island with nothing learned and a bruised ego.  “Well nuff wasting time now.  Back in line with tha others and I’ll continue.”

Vin sneered and walked back to the rest of us, showing off as much pride as he had left by this point.  Didn’t look like this one was going to last very long.

“I of course make that look easy. But if ya don’t hit tha spell just right, it’ll slam into ya full on.”  He stated before he continued with the lesson.  Turns out what he did was cast a reflective spell on his sword, and interesting switch as defensive spells are usually only used on people.  His logic was quite sound though.  Generally the larger the target the more energy was needed to produce a barrier to protect it, simple enough concept to grasp.  Now if you use that same strength spell on a smaller target however, you’d get a stronger barrier for the same amount of energy as that protective power would be less spread out.  So instead of a medium strength barrier on a human sized target, you get a vastly stronger barrier on a sword.

“Sounds like tha perfect defense, don’t it.”  He added after his explanation.  “Cast a spell on ya clothing, armor, so on and ya’re set.  In tha end it has tha same affect as casting it on yourself though.”  He picked up his sword as he continued.  “Now a sword or anything else not covering ya, that’s another mattar.”  The class just listened intently as he went about his explanation, even Vin seemed rather intrigued by it.  This odd little trick would work with almost any type of defensive spells, but according to Mr Kian it was much more fun with reflective types to smack a spell back at the caster.  That was of course easier said then done.  It was fairly easy with small spells like the tiny flame darts, those you simply had to strike solidly.  Now a large spell like a fireball it was much harder, since simply hitting the spell wasn’t all there was to it.  There was also a large amount of energy that needed to be taken care of, strike the spell just right and that energy will be directed around, away, or whatever from the sword.  Hit it wrong however and may as well have just stood there and taken the spell head on..  All in all a darn risky maneuver best saved for when you really knew what you were doing.

The rest of the class that day was spent primarily on just learning to use it with a vaguely mild degree of success.  Wasn’t likely going to be the kind of thing any of us would ever use in a real battle, but he just seemed kind of in the mood for something fun today.  And what better fun then watching your students get singed trying to bat away spells with a sword?  (While there was a much larger range of offensive spells, fire darts seemed to be Mr and Mrs Kian’s spell of choice to practice with.  I personally think they’ve got a thing for the smell of burnt fabric.)

After class I killed some time out in the courtyard with a few of the other students.  We invited Vin to join in, if he was going to be a student here we may as well get to know him.  After all, everyone in town knew each other by now.  He just waved us off dismissivly and kept walking.  It was quickly established that none of us thought he was going to last here too long with an attitude like that.

“Oh, hey, have any of you seen Elryn?”  I asked the others around me, curious if she had come back here after classes.  Even though it was already going into the early hours of the evening she’d usually meet me around academy grounds on days I had classes so late.

Everyone basically shook their heads and gave various other responses all leading to the same conclusion, no.  Vin stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, walking back towards me.  “Heh, you mean that poor little one armed thing?  Last I saw she was passed out on a rock.”  He answered rather smugly.  Were I not more concerned with Elryn I think I’d have decked the bastard right there.  As I took off running towards Tyra’s house I heard a loud grunt and the sound of someone hitting the ground, apparently someone decided to save me the trouble.  It may have taken Elryn a while to really fit into the school well, but once she did she was well liked in general.  It didn’t at all surprise me that someone else decided to do what I so wanted to.

A few short minutes later I arrived at Tyra’s and knocked rather loudly.  Probably harder then I had intended, but I was worried I’d find Elryn laying unconscious within.  Darn you Elryn, I told you you shouldn’t have tried to push yourself like this so soon.

“Goodness Eryk, what’s wrong?”  Tyra asked as she opened the door.

“Is Elryn alright?  She didn’t hurt herself did she?  Can I see her?  Is she even here?”  I asked her as I ceased my pacing and ran up to the door, probably sounding quite frantic in the process.

“Calm down dear...”  She said reassuringly as she placed her hands on my shoulders.  “Yes she’s alright, no she didn’t hurt herself, you can see her, but she’s not here.”  She answered with a small grin.  I breathed a deep sigh of relief.  “She’s at home actually, Adel told me earlier what happened.  Just over exerted herself in class, nothing serious.  She’s probably asleep by now.”

I looked at her with a small grin on my face, obviously most relieved to hear this.  “So Adel is with her at the moment?”

“Oh, no, Adel still has trouble around Elryn if she’s not here or with me.  Come to think of it...  I’m not entirely sure where that girls gotten off to now.”

“I’m sure she’ll show up sooner or later.  Thank you, and sorry for coming by here all frantic...  Guess I’ll go check up on her before turning in for the night.  Good night Tyra.”

“Don’t worry about it, its understandable.”  She gave me a wave and a smile before going back inside.  The sun had already set and the moons were yet low on the horizon by time I reached Merick’s.

She was sound asleep when I saw her, resting comfortably in a beaten up chair amidst the books.  Or comfortable enough I guess, looks like she just let herself collapse into it and dozed off.  Part of me wanted to carry her back to her room, give her a comfortable place to rest, try and help her even though I know she wouldn’t want me to....  With a sigh I quietly left the house and made my way home