A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed chapter six!
"Hey Sara!" Mato called when the three women came into the clearing. He was turned towards a tall woman with light brown hair who had a dark blue and black tattoo starting at her shoulder and snaking down her left arm to her hand "Look who I found."
"Hey." Sara said to the woman, her voice tense with pain
"What's wrong with you?" the woman asked
"Demons." Sara replied shortly
"Turn around." Sara did without speaking and the woman lay a hand over her wounds, letting a pulse of pink-silver magic flow into it. Sara flinched but said nothing, and a moment later there were only scars where her wound had been.
"Do me next." The woman walked over to Jordan and did the same thing. When she was done, Jordan rolled her ankle around and grinned "Thanks."
"No prob." the woman smiled back
"Who's she?" Rhea asked
"My name is Arana." the woman said "I'm Mato's sister."
"I got her over here to train Greg. She's a healer." Mato explained
"You couldn't've showed up at a better time."
"I try." she grinned "And call me Ara. I like it better." As the two women were talking, Jordan walked over to Mato
"I need to talk to you alone." she whispered
"Why?" he looked at her, confused
"Just follow me." she pulled him behind the cave
"What's going on?" he asked "Something wrong?"
"Not with me." she took a deep breath "With Sara."
"What do you mean?" his expression was instantly flooded with concern
"When we were fighting these demons, she kept trying to use her magic, but it died before it reached the targets."
"That is a problem." Mato ran a hand through his hair "I can't evaluate magical problems, but Ammariah can. I'll get her over here and see what she can do."
"Thanks." Jordan looked a lot more relaxed "I know she wouldn't tell you herself, but I wanted to make sure everything was okay."
"You did the right thing." he said "There's a lot riding on her actions, so she has to be in top form."
"Alright." Jordan nodded "I'm going to rest until it's dark, then we need to move. It's not safe over here anymore."
"I know. These stupid demons must want Rhea pretty badly to keep chasing her."
"She's an amazing mage." Jordan admitted "I saw her today. It's like she never runs out of energy or magic or anything."
"That can be a good thing and a bad thing."
"What do you mean?"
"Hasn't Sara told you about what we heard?" Mato looked surprised. Usually Jordan and Sara shared everything
"No. We haven't really had much of a chance to talk about much."
"Well, she was talking to Dwight and they said something about using us."
"For what?"
"We don't know, but since she's half demon and he's..."
"I always knew Dwight was a scumbag."
"Just don't mention any of this to Sara." he said quickly "She might have kept it to herself for a reason."
"I don't like this, Mato." Jordan's eyes gave away how uneasy she was "Two of the people we're travelling with might be plotting against us, and now Sara and I both have secrets from eachother."
"I know, I know. It's just temporary until we can get things running smoothly."
"Fine." Jordan sighed "Just...get Ammariah over here soon. If anyone can deal with this stuff, it's her."
"I agree. I'll get her tomorrow after we find somewhere else to hide."
That evening, the group started to move. Sara, Jordan and Rhea were heading the group, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Grissom and Greg were flanking them, and Mato, Dwight and Ara were behind the team. Felina had changed to the shape of a snow leopard, sticking out like a sore thumb in the lush green forest, but bounding ahead of the group and leaping on top of rocks to keep a look out. Greg had kept talking until Sara had snapped at him and told him that he'd get them all caught. The pressure of having non-working magic and having to head a group of rebels was starting to take a toll on her, and it was being reflected in her attitude.
Felina led them to a small shelter in the hollowed out trunk of a large tree just as the sun was beginning to break above the horizon. Nick immediately left to train with Felina, and the rest of the men left with Mato. Rhea stayed with Sara, Jordan, Catherine and Ara. Jordan had sunk down on the ground, using a mossy rock as a pillow and falling asleep. Catherine had started talking to Ara, and Sara was leaning against a tree, her eyes closed, thinking. Even through her closed eyes, Sara could clearly see the flash of magic in front of her. She opened her eyes, and saw Ammariah standing in front of her.
"Ammariah." she breathed a sigh of relief "I wasn't sure who you were."
"You and I need to talk." the goddess didn't bother with plesantries, but grabbed Sara by the arm and towed her towards a gap in the trees
"What's this about!?" Sara yanked her arm out of Ammariah's grasp "I haven't done anything wrong!"
"I know. This is about the demon battle."
"What about it?"
"You're magic isn't working. Why?"
"I don't know." Sara's voice was a mix of fear, confusion and anger "I tried to use it, but it just died."
"We're getting to the bottom of this right now." Ammariah had started speaking like a normal mortal, and was easier to understand, but Sara was still confused
"What do mean? How are you going to figure this out."
"Easy. Shoot me."
"Just like that? Just send a stream of magic your way?"
"Yes." Sara shrugged at the goddess' response and shot a large blank wave towards her. She dissolved it quickly and stared at Sara
"If you were using blank magic against the demons, then I've taught you nothing. Use regular magic."
"I don't want to hurt you."
"That's your problem. You can't hurt me because your magic isn't working." Ammariah reminded her "Now shoot."
"Fine." Sara shot a strong wave of magic at her mentor, but it died long before it would have been a threat
"Go again." Ammariah murmured, watching Sara intentley. She shot the same kind of wave, and it died like before.
"Again?" Sara asked
"No. I know what is wrong." she smiled "It's nothing bad."
"What is it?"
"You need a ranking test."
"That's it!?" A ranking test was the examination a mage needed to take before they could move up a level. It had to be administered by a divine or a higher up mage.
"Yes. That's it." Ammariah looked almost as relieved as Sara herself "You're reaching for magic that you can't physically use at your level." Each mage level unlocked the type and ferocity of magic that they could use. Low level mages were limited magic that could be used for small spells, where as high level mages and divines could use as much magic as they wanted for any spell
"When can we do it?"
"Now if you'd like." Ammariah replied "I can administer it."
"Now'd be great." Sara said "What do I have to do?"
"Alright. First, I'd like you to make a summoning spell. Summon Metino." Metino was Ammariah's good friend, and also a divine. Gods and Goddesses were the hardest to summon because they had quite a bit to do in a day. If the spell wasn't strong enough, they'd ignore it.
"Mmhmm." Sara was already concentrating. She closed her eyes and blue-green magic swelled around her. The saphire and green stone on her neck was glowing, and a moment later, Metino transported himself to where they were standing
"This had better be good." he growled, looking straight at Sara "Who are you?"
"She's with me." the man turned to see Ammariah
"What's she doing disturbing me from my work?" he demanded "Now with the Gunotans talking about moving, my section is as busy as we've ever been."
"It's a ranking exam." the goddess explained "I needed her to summon a divine."
"Well," the man looked surprised "What level is she now?"
"Seven." Sara answered
"That was a strong summoning spell for a level seven mage. I couldn't have ignored it if I tried."
"Excellent." Ammariah smiled "Now, transport him back."
Sara looked the man up and down before walking over to him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and Ammariah could see a small flow of magic encasing the god. In a second, he vanished. Ammariah stood perfectly still for a whole minute, her eyes closed. When her eyes flew open, they were shining.
"He said that was the best transporting spell he's ever seen a level seven do." Sara smiled
"Keep going. We need to finish this."
"Now we need to work on defensive skillls." without any more warning, Ammariah shot six rapid shots of green magic at Sara, all different strengths, speeds and heights. Sara looked up and down quickly, pinpointing the locations of all six shots. She started to target them individually, but realized that it wasn't going to work. Instead, she made a tall, shining magic wall that, when Ammariah's magic tried to penetrate, closed in on it and converted it to her magic, making her that much stronger.
Seeing her first attempt taken care of, the goddess shot twenty of the same rapid shots. Sara tried the same technique, but before Ammariah's magic hit her net, it combined to make a giant ball that blew through Sara's magic wall. Instead of trying the wall idea again, Sara shot small, fast streams of magic around the ball, and one large one in the centre. Her streams broke throuh the ball, weakening it, so when she shot a final stream at it, it dissintegrated.
Ammariah tried three more techniques, and each time Sara kept destroying them.
"Now...fix this wound." the goddess took a glowing finger and drew it across her arm, splitting the skin behind it. The wound then coated itself in green magic. What Ammariah was doing was protecting her wound, so Sara couldn't easily reach it.
Closing her eyes, Sara visualized what she needed to do. Placing one finger on each side of the magic coating, she allowed her magic to flow onto it, coating it and pressing down on it, slowly being absorbed. When Sara's magic reached through the magic potection to the wound, it split into many fine strands and bound the skin back together.
"I've never seen it done that way." Ammariah examined Sara's handiwork "Most people just get rid of the magic."
"Yeah, but that would've hurt you more, and taken more effort. This is just easier."
"That's...it." Ammiah realized "You're now a level 8." she walked over and placed a hand over Sara's heart and let her magic flow into her student's body. Sara flinched at first, but then stood straight, as itf to meet the magic and take it in that much faster.
"So that was it?" she asked, bewildered
"Yes."
"Seriously!?"
"What is so hard to believe about that?" Ammariah was puzzled at Sara's reaction
"Well...I just thought that was a warm up."
"You could have done more?"
"Way more. That was so simple."
"Then let's try another one." Ammariah mentally called Mato over, and he appeared a moment later
"What's up?" he asked
"We're giving Sara here a ranking exam. She blew through the one from level 7 to level 8, and wants another. Would you care to do the honours?"
"Of course." Mato stepped up to Sara and looked at her "Good luck."
"You'll need it more than me." she grinned
"Alright. Let's start with a defensive." he shot a high energy wave at her, the transformed into a hollow tube and came over top of her, closing her in. It started to shrink, slowly crushing her inside.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Ammariah yelled at him, her eyes flashing as her hands started to glow, as if she wanted to shoot him so much she couldn't control her magic "That's a level 10 spell!"
"I know." Mato grinned wickedly
"She just became a level 8! She can't handle it." she raised her hands, glowing green, and pointed them towards the tunnell, but before she could send anything towards it, the tunnel dropped to the ground in a fine shimmering orange-yellow mist.
"See?" Mato smiled smugly at the worried goddess "I knew she could do it."
"How did you..." Sara grinned
"I wound my magic around myself. When Mato's touched it, it send out waves of electricity and terminated Mato's power temporariy. If I put enough strength behind it, I could pretty much permanently terminate my oponent's power."
"I'd never thought of that." Now it was Mato's turn to look surprised "Let me try something." He sent a glittering gold wave towards Sara. Metalic coloured waves were the strongest and hardest to counter. Sara shot three waves of magic at it, and then her eyes widened as she realized that it was a spell well beyond anything she'd ever seen. Without realizing what she was doing, she let her mind go blank and closed her eyes. Waiting for the impact of the destructive wave, she stood ramrod straight. When it didn't come, she cracked open an eye and saw Ammariah and Mato, who were both pale as sheets.
"What? Am I dead?" she asked fearfully "Are we all dead?"
"N-n-no." Mato stammered "That was..."
"You were..." Ammariah cut in, but ran out of words
"What happened?" Sara asked, now confused
"It went right through you."
"You made yourself dissolve into the air." Ammariah explained, finding her voice
"When the wave passed through you, and you dissolved, I thought that I was wrong to send something so powerful towards you."
"But..." she asked, looking at her two teachers
"You were so in tune with yourself." Ammariah said "You just emptied your mind and gave yourself up to your magic."
"Usually," Mato took over "Mages who do that end up dying because nothing happens, but you were so in tune, your magical side just took over the thinking for you."
"How about that." Sara smiled "I'm unique."
"I don't think you get it." Mato said, looking to Ammariah, his eyes wide
"Get what?"
"Sara, that...that was a level 13 qualifying spell. You're now a level 13." the forest suddely grew silent. It was almost as if every plant, animal and rock was holding its breath, waiting to see what she said
"So you mean, I just defended myself against a level 13 wave from a level 17 mage?"
"Yes." Mato replied "You do realize that now you're a level 13, the only thing standing between you and becoming a level 17 are tests to see how well you defend yourself against multiple enemies, and how well you protect multiple people."
"Th-that's it?" she couldn't believe it "So I just went from a level 6 to a level 13 in one day."
"In a couple of hours." Ammariah corrected "You really are someone special." she walked over to the brunette and placed her hand once again over her heart. Mato walked over and placed his hand on top of Ammariah's. Both their magic flowed into her, making her stronger and elevating her levels. Throughout the entire process, her eyes were closed, and when she opened them, the brown in them was gone, and replaced with a shining electric blue base and sparkling bright green flecks that seemed to dance.
"Congratulations." Mato said, proud to have taught her "I'll start training you how to defend and protect multiples and then you can do another status test."
"Sounds good." Sara usuallt felt tired after she had used a lot of magic, but this time she felt as if she were walking on air.
"You truly are the only one mentioned in this prophecy." Ammariah muttered to herself
"Very few people can do that." Mato pointed out, as if he didn't think she knew what it meant.
"I know, Mato. Let's just keep going. We move again tonight."
"I don't see why we have to keep moving." Warrick was never usually one to complain, but moving every night and training to become a warrior was wearing him out "We seemed pretty safe at the cave."
"Yeah, but for how long?" Sara pointed out, keeping her eyes forward. It was almost pitch black on the path in the forest they were walking through and it took concentation not to trip over roots and rocks.
"What do you mean?" Catherine asked
"It has to do with the demons and the motives behind our actions." Rhea explained. Even though she had been with the group for a short time, she had fallen into a leadership position because of her skills with black magic
"I don't understand." Grissom sounded as confused as the rest of the team, though he had grown more confident as his skilld improved.
"You don't need to." Sara said "Just keep up and do what we say. Believe me," she added when they started to protest "we know what's going. Just trust us." Mato nodded in agreeance
"Fine." Nick said, swooping down in the form of an owl and scaring Greg
"Nice." Felina was once again in the shape of a wolf, and was obviously pleased with her student's progress
"Lina, get out of my way." Sara said, half annoyed, half joking as she almost tripped over her friend
"Sorry." the wolf-form jumped out of the way and fell in beside her, staying quiet.
The trip progressed slowly due to the sporadically placed rocks and the un-even terrain, and near the end everyone was starting to tire. Sara was a few feet ahead of everyone else, but they all could sense that something was wrong when she stopped suddenly. She shook her head and stepped forwards, but instantly sprang back, her green-blue glowing hands lighting up the forest.
"Oh shit." an unknown voice said "She's hot." In the magical realms, hot meant that the person was able to use magic for more than healing
"Damn right I am." Sara growled, having had enough "Just turn around and go back the way you came."
"No fucking way." Another person stepped forwards, their face shielded by a hooded cloak
"What do you plan on doing to stand your ground." Sara stepped up to the cloaked stranger, twining a thin stream of magic up her arms, over her shoulders and down to the ground
"Vi... maybe we shouldn't..." said another stranger
"No." said the hooded person "We've come way to far to turn back."
"Take one more step and you won't be able to move, let alone leave. I'd take the chance while it's offered."
"I think I'll take my chances with you." the stranger flicked their hands downward, and their hands lit up with black and violet magic.
"Crap." Sara muttered. Jordan came to stand beside her, hands glowing grey-blue. In response, another stranger came up, unsheathing a sword that shone violet with the reflection of the first stranger's magic. Mato, Rhea and Felina came to stand with Sara and Jordan, but for each person hey brought up, the strangers had one of their own.
This isn't something I can risk everyone's lives for Sara thought to herself
"Guys, fall back." she motioned to everyone. Without having to be asked twice, the entire group moved back as a whole until there was about six feet between them and Sara. The stranger studied Sara for a moment before nodding slightly and motioning with their hand for the rest of the strangers to give them some room.
"So," the stranger started "Are you going to leave, or are you going to fight me."
"I don't start fights." Sara said, struggling to keep her voice level. No matter what she said, she wanted to blast the strange people into oblivion, starting with the hodded one who was their leader
"Then allow me." the stranger blasted a fast moving stream of black-violet magic at Sara.
Sara spun smoothly out of the way of the magic, only to be in the direct path of another stream. Seeing the magic flying towards her on each side, she jumped up on top of a boulder and shot it with magic of her own, the flashes lighting up the pitch black forest. The stranger realized that her large streams were too easy to intercept, and started using small, fast moving bullet-like balls. Sara shot medium sized sphere shaped magic at the stranger, making her opponent's aim shaky and easy to move around. While she was busy with her counter attack, Sara felt a dozen or so needle sharp pains on her arms, back and face. Realizing that a grouping of the violet-black magic had hit her, she growled and shot a net-like wave towards the other mage, who ducked and coated herself with a shining cover. She broke out of Sara's magic and was just about to shoot another wave when a paper thin voice cut the air.
"Vi, stop." instantly, Sara's opponent turned around and faced another cloaked figure
"Rain, what are you talking about. We can't just go back. You know what happened back there."
"I know, but if you get hurt we won't be ableto go anywhere. Let me talk to her."
"I'm coming." the hodded stranger said softly to the peacemaker. The both walked over to Sara, the more recent arrival leaning against Sara's opponent.
"We need to talk to you." The hooded stranger said, her voice clearly female and softer than Sara would have expected
"On two conditions. No magic, and take down the hood." Sara gestured to the woman's cloak
"Agreed." She pulled down the hood and looked at Sara, her expression curious but guarded and no doubt challenging. The mysterious woman had onyx coloured hair with violet streaks that went down just to her shoulderblades. Her eyes were the same black and purple colour as her magic and her hair. They were a cloudy swirl and gave away nothing concerning her abilities
"You too." Sara pointed at the small woman who had ended the fight. She nodded and pulled down her hood to reveal long, almost white light blonde hair. Her eyes were a very pale ice blue that seemed to cut through the darkness, but what startled Sara the most was her skin, which was almost as pale as her hair and had a discreet wavy line that ended in a small swirl that sat just to one side of her left eye. Upon closer inspection, Sara realized that all the strangers bore the same mark, that gave away the most revealing thing about them.
They were Capretian warriors.
A/N: For those of you who don't remember, there are eight realms: Gunota, Yelago, Posketa, Caprety, Oreatno (Rhea's old realm), Jelina, Madlanna and Kantara(Sara's realm where the story takes place.) And they are all at war against eacother. Just a refresher. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! The next one should be up soon and then you'll find out who the strangers are and whether it's a trap for the rebels (ooh lol.) I always appreciate reviews and I hope that you'll all review! It'd make my day. Thanks for reading!
