Illius walked out of his room, frustrated. Once again he couldn't control his magic. Once again he almost caused an avalanche that would have destroyed the town not far from the tower.
" Damn it!" Illius yelled, slamming his hand against the wall.
Two months ago, when he destroyed a powerful demon he didn't have any problem with his magic. According to his master, the powerful wizard Khelben Blackstaff, he didn't concentrate enough. But he was afraid, afraid what would happen if he concentrated. He didn't have anything to destroy, so he would or could destroy the whole valley. But the problem remained. He couldn't control his magic and indeed, he didn't concentrate. Though he tried. He didn't want to, but he did try it.
Every time he had let the magic go through his body, he felled something that stopped him. Like something was missing. Like the link between his body and mind disappeared. The consequences were disastrous. Because he was a weather and water magician, he could control the storms. But this time it didn't work out that way. A huge storm had almost caused an avalanche, but fortunately Khelben was able to stop it. He wasn't mad, but Illius could feel the disappointment.
"That's logic, isn't it? For months everything worked fine, everything I did was good. Then I go to Gemspark Mine and bam, there goes my magic. What the hell went wrong?" he thought.
Illius walked into the garden and looked at the tree in front of him. It was an oak and it was planted in the birth year of his master. It was the only thing that knew how old his master really was. Even Illius had no idea of the age of his master. But that's not why Illius found the tree intriguing. There was a legend that told that this tree was one of the many oak's in which a tree spirit lived and that this tree spirit was the reason why many years ago the sworn enemies the elf-dragons and the human-air wizards had made peace in order to destroy a powerfull enemy.
There had been a marriage between an elf-dragon princess, the dragon lady she was called, and a human-air wizard. But when the enemy was destroyed, everything just went back to normal, and the war had started again.
The bloodline was said to have ended but Illius had read that this wasn't true. There had been rumors lately that a dragon was summoned by a powerfull sorceress, enough reason for him to believe that the bloodline still existed. (Only a dragon lady could summon a dragon, because she herself was no dragon, but she could control them.)
The air wizards were destroyed in battle, the dragons were almost completely wiped out, only a few of them remained. The humans and elfs had remained and the had fought, but without the help of the dragons the elfs weren't strong enough.
On many worlds the asked for peace, like on Illius'world, but on other world there was still a war. A quiet one, a cold one, but there was a war.
Illius sighed, as a child he had found the legend 'amazing', but now at the age of 28, he understood the danger that was hidden in the legend. If one dragon would every rise again, he could wipe out the entire world of Illius. The war would start again, but this time, the humans wouldn't be that lucky as before.
Because of his magic, Illius had a big responsibility. With great power, there was great responsibility. That's why it was important that he could control his magic.
" Hey, Illius!!!" someone shouted.
He turned around and saw Ranec, the ex-guard of Nesme and one of his best friends approaching.
" Hi Ranec!"
" So are you ready to go to Vaasa? Zhai and I are going to my uncle in Nesme for our wedding, I mean, we need to know if he agrees and all."
Illius smiled.
" Sure, it'll take my mind of things."
The three of them, Zhai, Ranec and Illius, were given Vaasa as a reward for the destruction of the demons. However, the region was untamed and perilous. They had to master it. Normally, because of Illius'lessons with Khelben, the had some kind of schedule. Three months for Zhai, Three months for Illius, three months for Ranec and then again Zhai, etc…
But Ranec and Zhai loved each other and they had decided to do 6 months together. That period wasn't over, but they both really need to go and Illius knew that Ranec, when he returned would do some extra work.
Illius didn't care for it. Though Vaasa was beautiful, it was not Illius favourite place to go. His hometown, Silverymoon, was the only place he loved. But he couldn't go back to that.
He looked at Ranec and smiled again. Ranec frowned. His long, blond hair was still in some kind of ponytail and his dark eyes still showed the grief.
Ranec had almost lost his whole family when Nesme was overrun by Trolls. He was knocked out early and when he had awoken almost everyone he knew had been killed. Filled with grief he had run away of his hometown and had met Illius in Gemspark mine.
Zhai, Ranecs' fiancée, was something unique. She was half-draw, half woodelf. This was rare in the realms, because the draw and woodelfs were enemies. But Zhai's father, who was a woodelf, had found a wounded draw and cared for her. They married and got Zhai.
When Zhai was little, the town was attacked by giants. Zhai's mother fought beside the woodelfs and got killed. A year ago, Zhai's father was murdered by the demon the had killed.
Though she had hated the woodelfs because of her mothers' death, she had lost that hatred when she was welcomed home by the woodelfs after the fight with the demons.
That she had fallen in love with Ranec was no surprise for Illius. The sexual tension that hung between them was hardly bearable. But Illius didn't mind. As long as they loved each other everything would be fine.
The three of them were all outcasts, even he because he was a sorcerer, born in a family of knights. His father had driven his son out of home.
" Illius? Everything all right, mate?"
" Yes, just thinking of the old days."
Ranec smiled.
" You know Illius, you should seek yourself a wife. Really it helps. It makes it all easier, more bearable."
Illius blushed.
" Sorcerers don't marry, Ranec!"
" That's because, according to you, there are no good sorceress? But what about the rumors?"
Illius frowned.
" You want me to marry with a dragon lady?"
" NO!!! You don't know if that's true. But it does say that she is a sorceress and a young one. Why don't you check it out when Zhai and I return?"
Illius shrugged.
" Fine with me, I could use a little adventure."
They both sneered.
