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Master of Reality- Thank you so much for taking the time to review. Having put three chapters up and having received no reviews probably would have discouraged me permanently. But, from receiving one, (yours) I was able to get over myself. It's not about the reviews, but about the effort. I'm learning and having so much fun writing this story. It's just a bonus that you and some others at GSR are reading along with me.
Disclaimer: Oh, it's that time again. (sigh) Ahem. Idonotowngoldensun. That wasn't so hard I guess.
Chapter IV
- Adrian -
Isaac and Jenna's parents bid their families final goodbyes as the party of four prepared to exit New Vale's town gates. Also waiting at the gate was the scholar Kraden, who was beckoning for Felix to speak with him.
"First of all Felix, I thank you for agreeing to participate in my current line of research," the scholar remarked.
"Don't mention it," Felix replied. "You have never led us wrong before."
"I wish the others were more partial," Kraden said lowering his head.
"Your pursuit Kraden, is a great one," Felix told him, "and great pursuits will reveal fantastic discoveries. It is impossible for one man's dream to be shared by everyone. Do not lose heart."
Kraden smiled. "You will forever have this old man's gratitude Felix. Oh, and by the way, don't bother to check in Vale or Kalay, I have already searched there."
Felix nodded and they exchanged farewells. He then joined the rest of the party who were waiting for him just outside the gates.
"Bye Mother! Bye Father! Bye Adrian, and remember to use the parchment!" Michael shouted from the archway of the gate waving his hands wildly.
"I won't forget!" Adrian shouted back.
"And Michael!" Felix said turning his head back toward his nephew. "Make sure you check the djinn once a week!"
"He's safe with me Uncle Felix!"
The party gave one final wave and after receiving one in return, Felix, Isaac, Jenna, and Adrian faced forward and so began their quest to Lemuria. The weather couldn't have been more inviting for the sun was pleasantly warming their bodies while a swift wind slowly blew against their faces. Their first day's journey would bring them to Vault shortly after nightfall where there, they would rest at an inn until morning. In the meantime, Adrian took in all that he saw. This was the first time he had ever been outside New Vale's gates so his first experience with the open wilderness left him thoroughly fascinated. The mere openness that he looked upon rejected the very laws of the world he once knew. New Vale had many fields, and open grasslands just like here, but the wilderness didn't have any thriving towns just over the next hill, or around the next bend. Here they could climb a mountain and probably not even see one sign of human settlement for as far as the eye could see! Adrian saw birds soaring overhead and rodents of all shapes and sizes scurrying along their merry way. He saw magnificent wild steeds running with the wind and to his utmost glee, wolves trailing from behind trying feebly to match the horses' unmatchable speed.
A few hours of their journey consisted of sightings just like these until eventually one lone wolf diverted his pursuit from a hopelessly more agile horse to Isaac's party. The creature slowly edged his way towards the four, growling and boasting its razor sharp teeth during the entire advance. Felix pulled his sword from his back as the wolf started walking towards Adrian.
"No Felix!" Jenna said with a raging passion. "Don't slay the wolf in front of Adrian! He is to young to witness death this close hand!"
"Well then what do we do?" Felix asked her. "We can't outrun it." As he was about to say something else, Isaac began advancing on the predator.
"Isaac!" Jenna furiously shouted.
"Don't worry Jenna," he soothed her with his dignified calm. "No blood will be shed today."
Her face became emotionless as she and her brother watched in anticipation of what Isaac was going to do. The wolf then broke into a charge towards Adrian causing Jenna to scream. Isaac nimbly ran into the middle of his son and the wolf and with his sword still in its sheath, he stood his ground. The maddened creature increased its speed and right when it was about to make its final approach on Isaac, it jumped as if intending to clear him and pounce on its original target. Isaac anticipating this, jumped along with the wolf manipulating gravity to suspend him in the air long enough to dodge the rapid swipes of the wolf and to grab both its front feet. Still in mid-air, he twirled the wolf around two times before using all the acquired force to launch the predator well away from the party. The wolf hit the ground hard but was on its feet again after only a few seconds. But, Isaac used this time to its fullest. Right before the creature was about to make another charge, he had already created a small fissure directly below it. The wolf unaware of such tactics, fell hopelessly to the bottom.
"Isaac!" Jenna screamed. "I told you not to kill it!"
"I didn't," Isaac again calmly said, "but we aren't done here yet. Jenna, I need you to set fire to the grass around the edges of the fissure."
Jenna hesitated but saw Isaac's pleading glance. She obeyed him and made a ring of fire outlining the fissure just as he had instructed.
"Good work!" Isaac shouted over the crackling flames. "Now Felix, I need you to uproot at least ten feet of grass around the fire so it doesn't catch to the rest of this field!"
Felix complied immediately and with a simple concentration of psynergy, the ground around the fire became nothing more than a large perimeter of dirt.
The three stared at their handiwork for a few seconds, black smoke now climbing towards the sky and the flame's fury flying harmlessly in the air. The dirt perimeter was working for the flames that burned so wildly came at least ten feet short of any nearby grass.
"Thank you Felix," Isaac said as he rushed over to his son who didn't seem to be phased at all by the attack. "Are you alright Adrian?"
"Yes," the boy said, a grin slowly creeping up his face. Isaac began to smile as well.
"Well," he addressed the party, "I think we're done here. Onward then."
"Isaac," Jenna said, "What did you just do?"
"You mean what did we just do?" he corrected her. "Well, I created a fissure to temporarily trap the wolf."
"Doesn't falling into fissures usually cause things to plummet to their death?" Jenna interrupted.
"Usually," Isaac inquired, "but the one I made is just small enough for the wolf to jump out of if it really wanted to, and just in case the wolf really did want to get out while we were still there, I asked you to create a ring of fire to prevent it from climbing out. Once the fire dies down, the wolf will be able to leave and go about its own business again, but by that time, we will be well out of harm's way."
"Well done Isaac," Felix congratulated him. "It seems your skills as a leader have not waned since the last time you have led us. Although, you could of merely made a fissure small enough to make sure the wolf didn't die from the fall, but big enough to make escape impossible."
"I could of," Isaac said turning to his wife, "but the creature would of ultimately died. I said there would be no death for the sake of Adrian and I meant it."
Jenna stared deep into her husband's eyes as the shock of the attack began to disappear. She thanked the heavens that she had him as their children's father.
"Thank you Isaac," Jenna whispered as she lovingly wrapped her arms around his neck. "I don't know why I sometimes doubt you."
"I know why," he replied, tenderly stroking her cheek as he received her embrace. "Now that we have children, your concerns have considerably changed. But trust me Jenna, just because I am a warrior doesn't mean my concerns haven't changed as well. You, Adrian and Michael will always come second to nothing."
Jenna lowered her head and pondered whether her next question was in any way relevant. "Isaac, if you had to pick from either us or the destruction of the world, what would you choose?"
"My family comes second to none," he immediately answered her. "The world would mean nothing to me without them. But, if that predicament were ever to arise though, I would find a way to save them both."
Jenna still had her head down. Deep in her soul she could sense a danger, a danger that could just possibly force Isaac to make that decision. Now that she thought of it, she knew it would be inevitable for Alex would never pass up the opportunity to attack Isaac's only weak spot. A new sense of dread and vulnerability flooded through her. Isaac sensed these emotions so he held her closer and tighter. Jenna let his warmth counterbalance all her fears and doubts and after a couple minutes, her worries began to fade away.
She then lifted her head. She would be strong, strong for her children and strong for him.
Jenna finally let go of Isaac and took his hand instead. As the two turned toward Felix and Adrian who were patiently waiting behind them, Felix and Isaac silently gave each other a nod indicating that they were ready to depart. With the flames still strongly burning and the black smoke still never ceasing to cloud the sky, they pressed onward.
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The party arrived in Vault much later than they anticipated. The sun had already been down for hours and by the time they had checked in at an inn, even the local taverns had emptied out for the night. Immediately after they were shown to their room, Adrian plopped on to one of the four single beds and fell asleep. Felix and Isaac dismantled their equipment and by the time they were finished, Jenna had retired as well. Felix loaded his sword and armor into a dresser nearby a vacant bed while Isaac simply dropped his things on the floor before crashing onto his pillow. Isaac stole one last glance at his brother-in-law only to see him wide awake silently sharpening one of his hunting knives.
"Felix," Isaac sleepily mumbled. "Sometimes I question whether or not you are human."
Felix stopped his sharpening to look up at him. "Kalay is a two day journey Isaac, that means no inns along the way. If we are going to spend a night in the wilderness, I want to have all my weapons in perfect condition, just in case."
Isaac grunted something but could keep his eyes open no longer. The wee hours eventually broke through Felix's resistance as well as he climbed into the remaining bed leaving his knives unfinished. Silence then resonated over Vault.
But somewhere else on the fringes of reality, another dawn was screaming. Mere hours later after Adrian had first laid his head down to sleep, his mind was being engulfed by dreams and images; a white foal, a black steed, a hungry pack of wolves, no escape. The attackers cornered and advanced the horses until they were in striking distance. The black steed shielded her foal from the first assault, but fell in a bloody agony from the second as the wolves clawed and slashed at her midnight skin.
Adrian woke up.
Something wasn't right. But it was just a dream...or was it? He silently leapt out of bed and grabbed his small sword and a coat. Felix and his parents were still sound asleep and the steady harmony of crickets outside indicated that the night was still young. Adrian crept out of the room and broke into a run immediately after he exited the inn's doors. Somewhere nearby a living creature was being slaughtered. Somewhere nearby he knew that innocent blood was being spilled. Adrian didn't know where to run to, but he ran anyway.
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Torin and his party of weary soldiers made their final approach on Vault's city gates. They had been deployed by the mayor ten hours earlier to investigate a mysterious fire that had been spotted by the town watch tower. Torin's troops, more commonly known as Torin's Blazers were specialized men in the art of navigation. Their ability to traverse even the most hindering of terrain and quickly cover the greatest of distances rendered them as an obvious choice for the mayor's assignment. The town watcher estimated that the fire was at least seven hours by foot northwest, so the mayor ordered Torin to reach that position in half the time before the fire died out. Torin and his men accepted and with only light blades equipped, they immediately embarked.
They had made their way to their destination with frightening endurance, only stopping twice for water from their small canteens. Torin's Blazers passed through impassable forests in which they could of traveled by the roads that were built around them; they cleared wide streams with merely their skill and their speed; they conquered the many hills that scattered in their opposition, and they ran the entire way. In two hours time, they reached their journey's end where they found a slowly dying ring of fire guarding a perfectly visible fissure.
"What the...," Torin's first officer Will murmured as he looked upon the grassless earth surrounding the anomaly.
The party heard a distinct growl develop within the crackling flames. Harlem, the youngest member of the group, flinched and took a step back.
"Everyone pull out your swords," Torin ordered as the noise grew louder and more fierce.
"Sir, I fear the weapons we possess will have no power against whatever demon lies before us," Harlem urged as he pulled out his blade doubtfully.
"This is no demon," Torin said looking earnestly at the sight before him.
"The sergeant is right," Will assured the soldiers. "If this was a demon, it would have wasted no time in surfacing from hell's flames. We saw the smoke hours ago."
"Hell must be a long way down then," Harlem resolved.
"Or maybe the demon is just waiting for the perfect chance to strike!" another soldier shouted out.
"What kind of men are you?" Will challenged the party. "Are you soldiers or are you superstitious little children?"
The party seemed to gather strength from his rebuke, although Harlem still remained skeptical.
"Be wary men," Torin warned for the growls were slowly becoming steady roars. "The creature is preparing for attack!"
Sure enough a shadowy monster enshrouded in flames leapt from the fissure before them. A wolf Torin noticed, but he had never seen one covered in fire before. The maddened creature slashed at the air as if in tremendous pain, but somehow targeted one of the men. In a frenzy of fury, the wolf toppled one of the soldiers, causing his cloak to burst into flames. The startled man screamed and flailed for his sword which he had dropped shortly after being charged. Torin rushed to his aid but was beaten by Harlem. The young soldier rammed the wolf off his comrade and thrust his blade into the creature's side.
"I order you back to the valley of the damned, hell hound," Harlem whispered as he thrusted deeper. The fire caught to his cloak but he didn't care; he would not leave his prey until he saw the creature's very life whither and die in front of him.
"Harlem, enough!" Torin ordered. "The wolf is dead or either on the verge of dying.."
"This is no wolf sir, it is a...,"
"Damn what you think it is Harlem, it is merely a wolf that was foolish enough to jump through that ring of fire!" Torin tried to reason. "Its coat ignited once he tried to pass through the flames. It is not a demon! Get a hold of yourself man! And for Weyard's sake put out those flames from your cloak before you roast like that wolf did!"
Harlem complied and took off his cloak to stomp the flames off. Meanwhile, the party was attending to the wounds of the soldier whom the wolf had attacked.
"Status!" Torin barked.
"Minor cuts and bruises sir," Will answered. "But I'm afraid the damage dealt by the burns is extensive. Recommend we send the fastest and strongest Blazer to carry this soldier back to Vault immediately!"
Torin considered it. His men were all tired from the non-stop run and it would be foolish to send every single of one of them back when only one was necessary. He pondered who would be the best candidate for the job, but then cringed at the obvious answer. Harlem was by the far the strongest and fastest, his endurance even outmatching his first officer; but his hellish fantasies disturbed him greatly. Could the young soldier keep his head about him on an assignment as critical as this?
"Harlem!" Torin addressed.
"Yes sir!" he answered now ridded of the menacing flames on his cloak.
"Are you up to the task of returning this soldier back to Vault in less the time it took us to get here?" Torin said looking Harlem straight in the eye.
"Well, considering the extra two-hundred pound load and the fact that I am slightly fatigued from the trip, I don't think less than two hours should be to big of a deal...sir." Harlem sarcastically replied.
Cocky, Torin thought. Arrogant, and over-confident. If only this guy could get a grip on reality he might be an excellent fighting man someday.
"Then you accept soldier?" Will asked him, slightly annoyed from his unorthodox response to the Sergeant Brigadier.
"Shall I depart now or later sir?" Harlem asked. "A short rest would do me good."
"Now would be ideal," Torin said and gestured towards the wounded man. Harlem looked at his assignment and then turning to his leader, gave a quick salute.
"I will depart immediately, sir!"
Harlem then carefully picked up the soldier and mounted him on his back. In an instant later, they were gone.
The Blazers watched the two disappear beyond the horizon before diverting their attention back to the sergeant. Torin noticed his men were eagerly watching him and understood what they were waiting for him to say.
"Good work men, you have three hours. Rest yourselves, go swimming in the nearest stream, do whatever but keep in mind that we are going to take the normal road on the way back. That means no shortcuts through the forests. Report back here before dusk ready to march."
So ended their escapade of investigating the mysterious fire. They had discovered nothing important and the scene would not stop playing back in Torin's mind. A ring of fire, a fissure, a wolf's burning death. Could it have been a sick joke orchestrated by a couple of kids? Then there was that outer ring of dirt that seemed to prevent the fire from spreading. Certainly demons and kids weren't that environmentally friendly. Torin sighed and wondered what he was going to tell the mayor. The Blazers approached the city gates well after dark where they were greeted by a shadowy figure. As they came closer they soon recognized their fellow Blazer, Harlem. After discovering that the wounding soldier was faring well, Torin bid his men good night and dismissed them to their homes. He was relieved that they would not have to spend a large remainder of the night giving the man a soldier's funeral, for such was the tradition of Torin's Blazers to faithfully commemorate a death within their ranks as soon as possible.
Torin and Will walked through the night until they finally reached Will's cottage. The lights were on and the officer gave a wince.
"Your wife still waiting for you Will?" Torin smiled as he patted him on the back. "She's a keeper."
"Yes," Will replied, "but staying up all hours of the night is going to be the death of her someday."
Torin gave a chuckle and offered his hand to his comrade. "Good work today, I will see you in the morning."
"Good night sir," Will said as he accepted his superior's hand. The two shook and departed on their own separate ways.
Torin spent the next hour in a dreamlike animation. He was tired, yet his mind still had things to sort out; The wolf, Will and his wife, and his injured soldier were all dominant thoughts raging inside him. Torin walked about the streets thinking about all the things long passed in his life and all the things he wished he could replay or relive.
He was a middle-aged man, brown hair, bearded facial features, brown eyes, of a fairly large stature, and wore a handsome complexion. His team had commented on numerous occasions of how it was impossible that Torin had remained unmarried for so long. But he alone held the reason for his isolation, a story untold which would remain so until death did he part.
Exhaustion was mounting upon Torin's resistance as he decided that he would rent a room at the inn instead of walking to his house at the far edge of town. He was about to reach for the door handle when all of a sudden the doors swung open and knocked him off his feet. Torin watched in confusion as a small boy no older than twelve dashed from the building and headed for the nearest gate to the town's exterior. Torin lifted himself to his feet and rushed in close pursuit of the mysterious boy who was now half way to clearing the town wall. The boy escaped the soldier's field of view as he successfully climbed over the wall and landed with a silent thud. Torin readied himself as he prepared to jump the barrier and with all the remaining strength and speed he could muster, he expertly climbed the wall and thrust himself skillfully to the ground. Just as he landed he heard a handful of collective growls and snarls. He looked to his right where he saw the boy standing motionless, staring at a small canyon below him. The scene Torin gazed upon was tragic chaos as a large pack of wolves cornered a small white foal, already drenched in the blood of an already slain black horse. The wolves seemed to be making a final advance toward the foal who squealed in sorrow and in fear. Torin was about to grab the boy and make a break for the city gates before the wolves detected them, but was instead frozen solid by the boy's puzzling change of stance.
Out of nowhere the scene erupted in a series of anomalies that would leave Torin questioning the forces of nature forevermore, for the ground beneath each wolf suddenly shot upwards and formed circular platforms holding each individual wolf separately, carrying them rapidly skyward. The young boy motioned his hands higher and higher and the height of the platforms seemed to correspond to each of these movements. Mere seconds later while each wolf was held hostage by their earthen prison in the sky, another platform, this time much larger rose from the ground and floated to the safety of the open plains surrounding Vault. On the platform was the white foal and the dead steed, the foal gazing at the figure on top of the canyon and then to its dead mother. The creature let out one last wail of despair and then galloped into the void of the night. When the foal disappeared from Torin's sight, all hell broke loose. The boy with one swift movement of his hands detonated each of the soaring platforms into thousands of fragments causing each wolf trapped on top to plummet to their death. Torin watched in horror as each body fell and was buried beneath the mighty crashing of the debris. However, unknown to the boy, a couple of wolves had miraculously evaded the initial rising of the stone platforms and had made their way to the top of the canyon. Torin saw these two assassins as they made their way toward the boy's right flank and began to charge. The boy should of been able to see them Torin thought. Why didn't he react? Torin didn't know what was going on but he had seen enough bloodshed for one night and he did not want a human child to join the fray. So he pulled out his saber and rushed to the boy's flank and sliced the leading wolf in half. The second creature dodged Torin's would have been killing blow and made a mad dive for the boy's motionless body. The soldier dived as well and thrusted his saber into the wolf's chest right as the claws of the beast dug deep into Torin's right shoulder. He screamed in pain as the wound began to bleed tremendously. The boy as if in a daze then woke up from whatever trance he was in and for the first time noticed Torin and the dead wolves at his side.
As Adrian regained consciousness and awoke in a silent fury, he quickly scanned the canyon below him to see if his psynergy assault had been successful. He gazed longingly at the newly constructed graveyard and searched within himself for the satisfaction he expected from bringing the bloodthirsty wolves to justice.
He could find no such reverie.
Realizing in disgust of himself that the act was done, he turned to the wounded man. Looking at the two wolves beside the man gave Adrian a fair synopsis of what had commenced while he had blacked out using his powers to tear apart the canyon. While he had blinded himself, by bringing the wolves to their deaths, a couple of the beasts had eluded his earthen grip and made their way up the canyon to take down the butcher who had taken the lives of their entire pack. The man, a soldier by the looks of him must of seen the creatures advancing toward him and attempted to protect Adrian from the retaliating slaughter. Apparently the man had successfully defended him but at the cost of a mauled shoulder. Adrian considered to try and heal the man with the limited healing powers he had independently picked up over the years, but quickly noticed his psynergy was completely tapped. He was not strong enough to carry the wounded man back to the town so he determined that his only option was to return to the inn and ask for help from his parents.
"Thank you," Adrian whispered to the man. "I will go get help."
Adrian couldn't tell if the soldier had nodded, or winced in pain. Either or, he would make his flight to the inn swift. As he ran and his legs became desperately heavier, he realized how much an effect a psynergy drain had on the endurance of a person, none the less a child. He vowed to himself never to misuse such an enormous quantity of power ever again; for he had killed today and nothing was ever to be accomplished from it, ever. Adrian finally reached the inn door and made one final dash toward his parent's room. On the verge of collapsing, he flung the door open and tried to enunciate what he wanted to say as the three inhabitants awoke in surprise.
"Mother...there is...man...wolves...hurt...badly...you need... to heal...now...before...too late."
Jenna leapt out of bed and rushed toward her son. "Adrian are you alright? Where have you been all this time? Are you hurt?"
"Mother...," Adrian coughed, "Now...he's...dying."
"Who's dying Adrian," Isaac said joining Jenna beside him.
"A...soldier," the exhausted boy said now beginning to feel his heart slow down a couple beats as he breathed deeply. "He was...mauled by a wolf."
"Where is he now?" Felix asked him as he equipped a couple daggers under his cloak.
"Outside by the town gates...by the canyon," Adrian managed to say before he tumbled on the bed closest to him and began to snore contently.
"Jenna," Isaac quickly said, "You're with me." She nodded and they hurried to the door. Felix initially followed but was stopped by Isaac just before he could exit the room.
"Felix," he said raising a hand, "I need you to stay here and watch over Adrian until we get back. I don't want him to wake up to an empty room."
Felix was a little peeved, but nodded in submission to his leader and friend.
"Thank you," Isaac said slapping him on the shoulder. He then left the room. Felix stood there for a second or two and then turned toward his nephew who was indulging in a much needed rest. Oh well, Felix thought. At least I can finish sharpening my daggers.
Isaac and Jenna found their way to the town gates and started to head toward the canyon Adrian described. Sure enough, there was an injured man and laying beside him were too dead wolves, one completely cut in half. Jenna rushed to the man and kneeled beside him while Isaac pulled out his sword to make sure the other wolf was dead. It was for the creature had taken a fatal sword thrust to the heart.
Jenna tore off the clothes of the mauled shoulder so she could see what she was dealing with. The wounds were deep and from the looks of the present rate of blood loss, the blood would never clot on its own. So she lowered her hand over his shoulder and began to release the fires of rekindlement. The man flinched from the heat, but then calmly lay still. After a minute Jenna lifted her hand to see the man's shoulder glowing bright red. As the light slowly diminished, it was replaced by healed flesh. The soldier quickly sat up and was able to see his shoulder right before the radiant red light disappeared. His eyes grew wide in amazement as he looked into the eyes of the woman next to him and then back to his fully healed shoulder.
"How...," he began.
"I'm a Mars cleric," Jenna finished for him. "What is your name?"
"Torin," he said. "What is... a Mars cleric?"
Jenna sighed. She hated when she had to explain the whole adept thing to someone who had no idea what alchemy was.
"Isaac!" Jenna called to her husband. "He's healed now so could you come here please?"
Isaac had been staring at the alarming amount of piled rocks at the bottom of the canyon when she called to him.
"Coming," he said as he wondered if Vault had some sort of earthquake he had failed to hear about. Isaac began to turn around when all of a sudden he heard a rumbling of rocks behind him. He turned to the canyon once again and saw a large pile of debris spill into a dark circular hole. As the last rock fell, a wolf emerged from under a large boulder. It limped a few feet, and then fell to the ground lifelessly.
"Curious," he muttered under his breath. He finally answered Jenna's call and walked over to the two. She was busy explaining what an adept was and by the looks of it she was waiting for Isaac to step in and wrap it up.
"And so there are fire adepts, wind adepts, water adepts, and earth adepts all around Weyard," Jenna finished then looking at Isaac.
"Yes," he stepped in, "And Jenna here happens to be a fire adept who has very effective healing power. So, she is appropriately classified as a Mars cleric.
"That is intriguing," Torin commented. "Now that I think of it, I am certain that I met one of your kind a long time ago here in Vault, a boy, by the name of Ivan."
Isaac smiled and remembered his and Garet's encounter with the young wind adept fourteen years prior.
"He possessed strange powers," Torin reflected. "Did you know him?"
"Oh yes," Isaac answered him, "quite well actually. Ivan was a brave young man who accompanied me and my best friend in our quest to restore alchemy to the world."
Isaac noticed blanks running all over the man's face and concluded that Jenna hadn't got to that part of the story yet. "Uh, its a long story," he said. "And there are some things I would like to ask you, that is if you are not to tired."
"Fire away," Torin said. "No pun intended."
"Well for starters, I have no idea what your name is," Isaac chuckled. "My name is Isaac."
"Just call me Torin," the soldier said returning a light laugh as the two shook hands.
"This is my wife Jenna if you haven't been introduced already."
"Yes," Torin said almost in a whisper as his heart skipped a beat, "We have. She was most kind in helping me in a dire time of need."
"It was nothing really," Jenna said blushing a little.
"Oh but it was," Torin insisted now kneeling before her. "I owe you my life Lady Jenna.
If it was possible, Jenna's blush almost matched the color of the Mars Lighthouse's beacon itself. "That won't be necessary," Jenna said almost fumbling her words. "Trust me, it was nothing."
"Speaking of your life," Isaac said redirecting the conversation back to Torin, "How did this happen in the first place?"
"Well," Torin said now getting back to his feet, "It all started when my soldiers and I returned from an assignment out in the countryside."
"Your soldiers?" Jenna questioned.
"Yes, my soldiers," Torin casually remarked. "I lead a local troop stationed here in Vale."
"Torin's Blazers," Isaac commented in realization. "It was you who led the winning team to victory in Tolbi's fourth annual Gondowan Marathon last year."
"Yes," Torin laughed. "That was our troop."
Isaac respected the man's humility for he could of easily said he was sergeant of a troop or victor of a major race, but instead he chose to introduce himself by his first name. "Impressive," Isaac commented with a double meaning implied. "Now the wolves?"
"As I was saying," Torin began, "my soldiers and I just returned from an assignment. I had dismissed them to their homes for the night, but I didn't feel like sleeping just yet. So, I walked around the town for a while to organize my thoughts but then decided I better turn in. The local inn was closer than my home at the time so I decided I would sleep there for the night. Right when I was about to open the door, a young boy burst out and started running toward one of the town gates. I followed him to here where in that canyon a pack of wolves were closing in on two horses, one already dead, the remaining merely a small white foal. I was about to pick up the boy and flee before the wolves picked up our scent, but I froze when I saw the boy shift into some mysterious stance. All of a sudden, the boy lifted his hands and the canyon erupted in chaos. Each individual wolf that was advancing on the foal was lifted by a small and circular stone platform at least two-hundred feet in the air. Then another platform was raised, this time much bigger than the previous ones and was carried all the way to safety of the open plains. On it was the foal and the dead steed. Once the foal ran well away from the canyon, the boy clenched his fists and every single platform detonated beneath the wolves. Every single wolf plummeted to their death. At least that's what the boy thought. Apparently two wolves were not present when the boy lifted the platforms, but somehow they knew that he had killed the pack. They ran to the boy's right flank and began to attack. Now I do not understand how he did not see the wolves advance toward him because they should of been in his clear sight the entire time, but oddly enough, the boy remained motionless. That's when I intervened and killed the wolves. The mauled shoulder happened in the process."
Isaac and Jenna looked at each other and then walked over to the canyon. The scene resembled Torin's story perfectly, right along to the dead steed on the large platform in the distant plains.
"That explains that circular hole I saw earlier," Isaac said to himself.
"What?" Jenna asked him.
"I saw a pile of rocks fall into a circular hole while you were healing Torin. I even saw a wolf crawl from under a large boulder."
"It was still alive?" Jenna asked in amazement.
"It wasn't for long," he assured her.
The two took in the scene knowing fully well that only one child they knew could of been responsible for it.
"Adrian," Isaac concluded.
"But how?" Jenna said in disbelief. "He hates using psynergy. And from what Torin described, the work done here would of taken a master adept to accomplish. It had to have been another boy..."
Isaac turned to Torin who standing alone behind them. "Torin," he called to him, "do you remember what the boy looked like?"
"It was too dark to see anything specific," Torin answered him. "But I do remember the long black hair."
Jenna and Isaac looked into each others eyes in wonder. Every sign indicated that Adrian had done this amazing feet of psynergy; the obvious ability of an earth adept displayed by the stone platforms, Adrian running into their room out of breath to inform them of Torin's condition, the long black hair...all of it pointed to their son.
"Could of Felix taught him this?" Jenna asked
"I don't know," Isaac answered, "probably not though."
The two contemplated about the numerous farfetched possibilities, but always eventually disregarded them as illogical. All they could do was wait until Adrian woke up. They could ask Felix if he was in anyway responsible for Adrian's ability, but somehow Isaac knew that was almost as illogical as their original contemplations.
Jenna and Isaac bid Torin farewell and arranged that they would meet again in the morning Questions were racing inside the couple's minds as they walked back to the inn in the still of the night. They needed to get to Lemuria and they needed to get there fast. It would be there and only there that they would receive the answers they desired.
For there was something about Adrian.