Hey... Sorry for the long wait time. For a while I didn't feel like writing, and then I got hit by random Blank-page syndrome. At least this chapter is done ^^'. The next 3 chapters will be much, much longer, and come out quite a bit faster. I also expect to wrap the story up in 3 or 4 chapters.

Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Kyle

Snow had been piling up. Much of the villagers stayed home, with their families. The once full of life village was slowly dying as the mistrust and the resentment toward Aria grew. And while everybody acknowledged it, few tried to make things better.


Over time, Kyle had gotten used to silence. He could easily write in a small notebook if he wanted something. The rest of the time, he contended himself with nods, and hand sings. One thing he couldn't grow accustomed to, however, was his daughter's new attitude. Altough she was stressed by the recent events, she managed to smile one in a while. He finally felt like she didn't pretend to be someone else. He was simply happy to see her well again.

For now, the bad weather forced them to stay indoor. Father and daughter had built a huge fire in the chimney, while Mana cooked some pastries and warmed a kettle of milk. The house was cozy and calm. Aria was sitting by the fireplace, reading her spell book, as usual. However, she was unusually upset: she muttered to herself, and kept flipping the pages. Finally, she threw down the book. Right after that, she went trough a coughing fit. Her hand went to her mouth; it wiped away some blood. Kyle could only look at it for a brief instant; it soon vanished inside of Aria's pocket.

"Everything is alright, honey?" He wrote on his little notebook.. His daughter picked it up.

"Aww, don't call me like that anymore. I'm not 5." Answered Aria, making fun of him.

"You're sick?" was quickly scribbled.

"Yes. Caught a nasty cold."

Cold didn't make people cough blood, a fact that Kyle kept to himself. He quickly wrote some more lines.

"You are wandering what I was fussing about?"

Kyle nodded.

"Well, it's kinda weird. See, I drew this drawing, along with Cammy."

She pulled out the picture. Kyle saw an intricate amount of lines, forming no recognizable pattern.

He pointed out her left glove, where her mark was.

"Yes, the drawing does look like my mark. That's what I was wondering about."

Kyle fetched his notebook once again. His wife was busy serving the pastries and milk, obvious to her husband and her daughter. Soon, Kyle was finished writing yet another series of sentences.

"You think that the drawing is linked to a spell? Or linked to you? Why would Cammy be able to complete it? Are you sure those line she added are even important?"

"Well, that's the question. I think that it's linked to a spell about me. And I have no idea about how Cammy could draw something like this. See, magic can be used in many ways. Trough a weapon, such as an enchanted blade, trough words, like in a spell book, and even trough drawings."

"Drawings?"

"Not really drawings, but what they cause"

"Emotions"

"Exactly. One thing that is peculiar about Invoker magic, is that it's almost entirely opposed to regular magic. While one uses words as a mean of expression, the other uses drawings."

Kyle picked up the spell book. He was surprised to see that most of the pages were filled by drawings. He could even guess what some of the spells meant, with his limited knowledge of magic.

"But isn't magic simpler to learn, using simply drawings?" was written, once more.

"Yes, but it's also much harder to tame. See what happened to this village, for example. The spell that gave me access to this kind to this kind of magic is also behind everything bad that happened."

"How is that?"

"Words are logic. Rational. They obey a code. Drawings, however, are created by imagination. They obey their own set of rules."

"Well, have you figured out some of them? I'd like to have my voice back."

"The only thing I managed to guess is that the spell that triggered a few month back ends on winter's solstice."

"Ends?"

Aria picked up a cookie and chewed on it meditatively.

"Yes. The spell that gives me access to invoking magic is still running right now. It will be fully completed on the twenty-first of december."

"What will happen next?"

"I have honestly no idea. I only know that if I want to do anything, it will be on that day."

"What will you try to do?"

"I will probably try to renounce to my new powers. It should cancel out everything that happened."

"You can simply do that? How convenient."

"Actually, I'm not sure if it's that simple. The magic lives in me, and won't be too happy about being thrown out. I wonder if I'll succeed." commented Aria, gloomily.

"Is it that dangerous?"

"Oh, I don't know. Anything could happen to me."

"Would you prefer to keep the magic, or to get rid of it?"

The young woman stared at her spell book for a while.

"I want to get rid of it."

"Why?"

"Because it has already cost me something very precious."

"Your friendship with Mia?"

"Yes. You know, I miss hanging around with her. Most of the time we didn't even do that much. We read together, or something. But now she is gone. It's not fair."

"Life is harsh, honey. Harsh, and complicated. Do you know why Mia is this angry at you?"

"Well, invoking magic is very feared by all elves. But Mia... Mia... Sorry. She asked me not to talk about it."

"Well, at least you are keeping her secret, Aria." threw in Mana. "It's a sign that you haven't given up on your friendship just yet."

"Maybe you are right, mom. Maybe you are. But then, I spit on her name as publicly as I could."

"You did what?" Asked Mana.

"Is it linked to that disturbance at the eagle's inn?" scribbled Kyle.

"Yeah..."

"What did you do?"

"I pretty much told to everybody that I don't view her as an human being anymore." Told Aria with a straight face.

"You did WHAT?" Asked Mana, a tad louder.

"Don't complain about how she act, then!" wrote her father, in big bold letters.

"Yes I'm complaining! How does it feel like to ask for forgiveness, only to be called a liar? You think I didn't think it trough? At least I say what I think! I'm not muttering and whining and complaining underneath my breath."

"Calm down, Aria." Said her mother, trying to stop her fury.

"All of you! You all think this is my fault! You all think so, deep down inside you!"

"Aria, get a grip of yourself!"

Aria started to move, but Kyle was quicker. He caught her arm and twisted violently. Aria, fell on the ground. He kept the pressure on. He was unable to speak, but he was pretty sure she got the message.

She stood up, shaking. Tears of rage were falling from her eyes. She walked upstairs, to her room.

Mana broke down in tears. Kyle grabbed her and held her against him. He really wanted to say something to make her feel better. Instead, he waited silently for his wife to quit sobbing.