Chapter 2

Hey, everyone. I finally managed to post this after some complications and minor writers block, but hey, it was worth it. Anyhoot, I hope you do enjoy.

Heading down the path some mage created so long ago, feeling nothing but a light cool breeze tickle her cheek, she looked at the beautiful book carefully tucked under her arm. The berry blue binding and bronze lining almost made it look unreal, mythical even, especially with the full moon shining down on her through the canopy. This book... She has been searching for something like this for a long time now. At first she didn't care. Mages were Mages, all they ever wanted was fame and power. So did she, but she didn't crave it to a point that she needed to make it known to the world. Ender was enjoying her late night stroll and even decided to sing a tune she knew as a child, pulling her hood low over her head as the wind started to pick up. One her mother had taught her.

'Ain't gonna take me down, no way.

Don't judge a thing 'till you know what's inside it,

Don't push me I'll fight it.

Never gonna give in, never gonna give in I know

If you never catch a wave, then you're never gonna ride it,

You can't come uninvited,

Never gonna give in, never gonna give in I know

You can't take me, I'm free.'

She kept walking , humming the rest of the song, and eventually, the cool air started becoming warmer, which disturbed her. Enders singing eventually came to a stop as she realized that the trees were starting to be barren of leaves, the trunks looked more black than brown and the smell of smoke lingered in the air. She moved forward and cringed, she felt like a ghost as she could not hear her own footsteps, which were muffled by the thick layer of soot and ash that covered the ground.

The evidence suggested a fire, but she didn't hear any sounds of screaming or cries of panic from the village. This wasn't a natural fire, someone had to have done this. As Ender got closer to the trees, she noticed that only the bark closest to the ground was charred to the point that heat radiated off it. She looked around, finding the same thing on the other trees, and came to a conclusion. Someone was here, and recently. Her scowl deepened when she thought of someone in her forest.

Suddenly she stopped, still scowling in discomfort. Something blocked her path. The hunched form of a human just stood there, blocking her path. A twig snapped behind her, and she instinctively thought of her sword. Red particles formed around her hand and she solidified the energy to form her weapon, grabbing the hilt before it tumbled to the ground. The ruby blade shone with a light purple aura, giving off a small glow around her, illuminating the dead forest floor. More twigs snapped, this time they all came from different directions, soon surrounding her. She hefted her sword and kept a tight grip on the book, eyeing anything that sounded too close to her. The twigs suddenly stopped snapping, but that didn't make her feel any more comfortable than before.

"Hello?" She called out, holding her sword in front of her. "Did you do this?" She pointed to the destroyed forest around her, gesturing with her sword.

"Are you a mage?" A deep voice rang out. The form in front of her raised its head, dark glowing red eyes stared at her from the deep depths of its hood. The red eyes almost seemed to glare at her, but she glared right back.

"You didn't answer my question." Ender snarled, already determining that this man was going to be trouble. He obviously wasn't afraid of her, and she was going to change that. She stepped forward, twisting her sword around in her hand while giving off her courtesy smile, hoping this show of talent would give him a little doubt. And yet, he still did nothing, even after she placed the blade relatively close to his face. Her smile faded and her mind turned to business. He saw the change in her attitude and answered.

"Yes. We very much did so." His voice, first being deep and almost impossible to decipher, was now clear as can be. His smile shone through the darkness of his hood and he reached up with one hand to pull it back, revealing a red eyed man with short black hair. After hearing him say 'we', Ender was furious. There was more than one responsible for destroying her forest.

"How wonderful." She snorted. She now looked around, wondering where the rest were. "Do you know who I am?" She said slowly, emphasizing the last part of the sentence as she lifted her sword, whirling around to the sound of a snapping twig. The man laughed and took a few steps forward, making her back up as he unsheathed his own sword. Unwillingly, Ender made the book crumble into little particles, storing it in her inventory and turned to face the threat. Now that he stepped out of the darkest part of the forest, she could see his clothing. Red leather material fused with iron to better protect the wearer, but also a disadvantage, as it would weight more than leather and iron.

"I've seen worms that are scarier than you." He huffed, a smile creeping up on his face. "Now answer my question: Are you a mage?" His sword was pointed straight towards her, but his grip on it was loose and he appeared to be relaxed.

Ender had to refrain from attacking him, as she did not know any of his tricks, but he didn't know any of hers either. He had just insulted her, which meant he probably didn't know her, which meant... She would have to show him, by giving him a hard lesson. She smile devilishly, imagining all the things she could do to make him fear her, which made her chuckle. She moved her hand and adjusted her hood, pulling it slightly lower on her head and stepped forward, glaring at him through the dark depths. He visibly shivered and she laughed out loud, which made him flinch.

"You're pretty stupid if you haven't figured that out yet." She said, her voice filled with enough poison to kill a werewolf. "I'll show you just who I am." With the last few words, she gathered her magik energy towards her feet and sprang forward with her sword in hand and raised her fist, her increased speed gave her punch more velocity. The man didn't have time to react as her fist made contact with his face, sending him sprawling backwards.

He grunted as he impacted with a tree, which made Ender chuckle. She came up to him and kneeled down, lowering her head to his ears while holding her sword to his throat, which made him stop moving.

"Answer these simple questions for me, would you?" She hissed. He hastily nodded, cutting himself in the process, which made her chuckle darkly. His hand tightened around his sword but she stomped her foot down onto it, which almost made him scream. "Do you know who's forest this is?" He shook his head. He tried to free his arm, but she hissed "!ecI" darkly and a layer of cold blue ice covered his hand and wrist, making it very hard for him to move his hand.

"Do you know what I can do?" She applied a little pressure to his throat, also increasing the amount of ice on his hand. He shook his head again. She laughed out loud, making him cringe as she was close to his ear. Ender mentally prepared herself for the next question, wanting to make the man scared for his pathetic life, to remember her for all eternity. Even up to the day he finally dies.

"Do you know who I am?" She tightened her grip on her sword, making it disappear into particles as she stood up, reaching up and pulling the hood off her face, smiling widely. Her black hair flew free with the sudden wind that raced between the trees. Her violet eyes seemed to grow with an intensity that obviously scared the man senseless. She used the opportunity to release some of her energy, solidifying it behind her to form wings, sparking a flame to life. They made her look bigger and more intimidating, clearly frightening the man.

"I am the bane of all existence." She lit her hands with fire and made herself a little pet. Made of fire, it flew around her, screeching at the man every time it came close to him. She could almost feel his fear rising and laughed. The fire melted the ice on his hand and he took the opportunity to swing his sword in an attempt to be rid of the Fire Bird.

"The most powerful of them all." Ender laughed at his feeble attempt. The Fire Bird simply broke apart and another bird of fire sparked to life, flying in the opposite direction of the first. They both began screeching every time they flew near the man, making him tremble and flinch ever time they came close to him. He was getting terrified, and she was loving it. He kept trying to get rid of the Fire Birds, but it only made more appear.

"You cannot best me, fool, for I..." She lifted her hand, making the man stared at her, wondering what she was going to do next. She waited, making the suspense increase, and then spread her fingers. Before she could do anything, the man laughed.

"Did you forget? I wasn't the only one to burn your forest." He smiled. "I have friends all over this place, looking for a mage, trying to draw her out."

Now it was Ender's turn to laugh. She extended her hand and the biggest of the Fire Bird, the first she had created, came forward. It leaned it head affectingly onto her hand and she stroked its fiery feathers. The man gasped, seeming surprised that the fire wasn't burning her. It only made her laugh again. He was so stupid.

"Is that so?" She then turned to her majestic bird of fire. "Seek them out, my Beauty." She whispered. "Chase them away from my forest." The bird raised its head from her hand and opened its beak. A musical eagle type of cry echoed through the forest, getting the other birds attention. They gathered together and all flew into different directions, Lighting up the surrounding forest as they flew by. Their cries were soon followed by the terrified cries of the men, who had decided to turn tail and run form the new threat. The man in front of her had fear written on his face, which made her feel good about her success. She then resumed her introduction to herself, the courtesy that usually scared her victims half to death.

"...I am the feared Dark Mage..." She then glared at the man, a smile still plastered onto her face as she raised her hand again, summoning her birds to her side knowing they had dealt with the threat. Her majestic Fire Birds appeared, first as a simple flame, then bursting to life with their beautiful cry. They stared surrounding the man again, circling high and low.

"...known throughout this entire land..." She then pulled all her birds into one giant mass, their cries mingling together to form an exceptional roar that none can describe. A shape slowly started to form itself, stretching out into different directions to form a large behind made purely of fire. The fire of her make-shift wings were drawn into the new creation, which roared like a wild fire. The man was terrified; shaking in place, paralyzed by fear and breaking out into a cold sweat, he almost looked like he was going to cry, this only made her laugh even harder.

The creature than finished forming itself, and Ender was amazed at her creation. It had a head attached to a long neck, a massive body, with two large wings , four clawed legs, and one long tail. Its head had two horns, glowering ember eyes, a mouth full of teeth and a wicked snarl as it approached the man. Opening its maw to engulf him, making the man squeal with terror as it approached him, swallowing him whole.

"...as Ender Dragon."

She willed the creature to step back and it obeyed, bowing its head as she walked by it, gazing at the man lying on the ground, his hands over his face, sobbing lightly. She could hardly contain herself from laughing. This was so enjoyable, making others scared for their life and scared of her. No, scared wasn't strong enough of a word. Terrified, was more appropriate.

"How...?" He whimpered, not even daring to look at Ender. His act of courage was gone, crushed to dust. So was his bravery.

"A magician never reveals her tricks." She said, almost too gently. He held his hands tighter to his face, scared and scarred for life. "But, you will answer this one question for me, will you?" He slowly nodded, almost weeping. Her expression turned deadly and serious as she suddenly grabbed the man by his collar and hoisted him up so that their eyes locked. He tried to look away, but her eyes, both beautiful and terrifying, kept drawing his head back.

"Who sent you?" Her good-girl act was gone. She was down to business now. Enough with the games, she wanted answers. All he did was sob, reaching behind his back and pulling out a piece of paper. He handed it to her and she dropped him as soon as she got a hold of it. Seeing his chance, he ran away, gone faster than she could blink. She was stunned for a second, but then thought about it and smiled, then turning her attention to the paper in her hands. It only had one message, and she was awfully suspicious that it was directed to her.

Meet me at Bleakwood Underpass.

-E. D.

That was nice. I had fun writing this part. Don't worry if your confused about her little tricks with the fire, it will be explained in later chapters. Hehe. Did you guys like it? I hope so, cause I did. Hehe. Don't forget to leave a review to support! Toodles!

-NilakantaDragonQueen619