Chapter.4
"Sortiara mercilessly pounded away at the slaughtered monster. It was dead beyond any doubt." Blood sprayed on the pages. "I tried to stop her, but she glared at me enraged saying, 'get in my way and you will be next!'."
Remus turned the page, the pages showed a fire. Two people sat on a log by the flames. "It was nightfall. As we sat warming ourselves by the bonfire, I heard a sob."
"What do you do this time?"
"Sortiara was weeping, clutching her right arm. The blight." The last two words were in red. "A deformation of the right arm. The price we sorcerer pay to wield magic."
Remus looked at his right arm, he was lucky to not have the blight. Though he's never sacrificed someone before.
"The sight of her tears brought pangs to my heart."
"Pangs?"
"I gently creased her back in solace, her sobs echoed in the dark of night." The pages turned black. "I could only imagine her pain. As my hand rested upon her sobbing frame."
Librom closed and stood up. "You know that woman who appears in the journal?"
"Sortiara."
"You would be wise to watch her closely. she'll have an impact on our author." Librom laid down and reopened back to the page he was on.
"The arm smarts."
"Just say hurts. Don't be fiance."
"It was an odd expression, but Sortiara spoke of her bloodlust thus." Remus turned the page. An image of what looked like a metal jack-o lantern, with arms and legs attached. "This monster was once human. A sorcerer who had misused his magic, and transformed himself into a monster. We sorcerers are tasked with the disposal of such lost men."
"Maybe he had a good reason. No one wants to be a monster just for the fun of it." Remus turned the page.
"Looking at the beast Sortiara said 'don't think, kill!' it was an order. As if I needed to be told. We all know that sorcerers are in the business of murder."
The next page held a paper with a picture of the jack-o lantern and pulled Remus into the book. Remus reappeared in a field of broken status. Sortiara right be side him.
"Don't second guess yourself. Murder is what we're here for."
"Not me." The two wondered the ruins, Remus hear something moving and conjured a thunder sword. "It's here. Get ready!" The sorcerers found a black tar in human form. As they got closer magic flowed from the creature as it morphed into the jack-o lantern.
Remus threw an ice mortar at the monster, Sortiara did the same. The jack-o lantern curled into a ball and rolled in place to build up speed. "Ice shield!"
"Don't tell me-"
"Ice shield now!" The two made a wall of ice.
When the monster had build up enough momentum it rolled towards the sorcerers. It clashed into the ice, sliding the sorcerers back. The wall melted once the metal monster stopped rolling.
"Attack!" Remus grew an ice arm and punched.
"I know that!" Sortiara grew an ice sword and slashed away.
The jack-o lantern stood up and swung its arm at them. Remus made an ice shield but couldn't stop it along. He and Sortiara were thrown back and sent on fire.
Sortiara threw dirt on herself to put out the flame, Remus covered himself in ice armor and returned to his feet. Remus used his ice arm to grab Sortiara and douse the fires.
"Let go of me!"
"You're welcome." The jack-o lantern roar and rolled at them, Remus jumped out of the way and tossed Sortiara out of the way as well. "Long range magic! Keep your distance!"
Sortiara held her hands together and charged an ice spell. Remus threw ice mortars at the jack-o lantern.
The monster ran towards Remus swinging its arms and leaving waves of fire in it wake.
"Get out of there!" Shouted Sortiara Concern slipped into her voice.
Remus pulled his right arm back, grew ice over it and pored magic in it to make the arm larger. "All or nothing!" Remus and the jack-o lantern punched and their fists met. Remus' arm was melting as the jack-o lantern's was starting to freeze.
"Sortiara! Help me! Ice mortar!" Remus was losing the fight, his ice arm was melting too fast to keep going. Sortiara threw the attack, hitting the monster's body.
The jack-o lantern flinched and Remus shoved himself away. "This time you fall!" Remus' arm dissolved and he summoned an ice sword. He filled it with as much magic as he had to grow the blade to five times its sizes.
"Down you go!" Remus swung the sword and cut the jack-o lantern in the knees. The monster fell to the ground, Remus took a step and thrusted the sword into the monster, freezing it from the inside.
The jack-o lantern stopped moving and its arms fell off. The monster dissolved into black ooze and once it subsided a knight came out of the middle of the mess.
Remus walked over to the knight. "Make the sacrifice, now!" Shouted Sortiara.
Remus kneeled down to the knight. "Why did you become a beast?"
"The magic... I needed it to save my, my homeland."
"There are other ways then to turn to dark arts."
"Then, why do you use magic?"
"What are you doing? Make the sac-"
Remus held up his hand to Sortiara. "I use magic because I have no choice." Remus stood up and held his left hand over the knight.
"What are you doing?!"
"He doesn't deserve to die."
"That's not avalon's way!"
A white light appeared around Remus and the knight. The light gathered in a sphere and rise from the knight and into Remus. "I'm not with avalon."
"Thank you." whispered the knight as Remus helped him stand.
The world turned golden brown and Remus was returning from the book's world.
...
"Flaunting the rules, I offered my hand."
"So what I do in the book effects the story." Remus turned the page.
"This monster had taken countless lives. But even so... I had never heard such a sincere thank you. It was a wonderful thing to hear."
"That's happens when you save lives, not take them."
"In the end, we had shirked our duties. I decided, at least to relish the moment. We had spared a life. And it was a good thing."
Librem closed and sprung up again. "Whatever you learn in these pages will stay with you in this world. You're magic will get stronger. Then, you'll have a chance at bringing Magusar to his knees."
"Then let's keep going."
"But first, let's talk a bit about you're last quest."
"What about it?"
"Why did you save that knight?"
Remus tilted his head. "What do you mean? I saved him because it was what I felt was right."
"but it's a sorcerer's duty to kill anyone who becomes a monster, even, especially when their true form is revealed."
"Who says? avalon? Who are they to says who live or dies."
"Then... are you with sanctuarium?"
"No. I don't believe everyone should die, but I also don't believe that everyone should be saved."
"Then which is it? Every sorcerer belongs to an organization."
"Again, who says?" Remus laid on his cell floor. "Whatever, I need sleep." Librem was bouncing about and Remus just laid him face down as to muffle the book's words.
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