'If you can hear this call then we share the same element. I need your help to save our own kind.'
"Did you hear that?" Leylah asked, looking around her and her brother's room.
"Hear what sis? I didn't hear anything. Are you feeling ok?" Zain asked, putting his hand on her shoulder with a look of confusion.
"I heard a voice just now in my head, it sounded like a young man's voice. I think he is in pain." She said, turning to look at her brother. "I'm going to go talk to mom, maybe she can help me." She told her brother before she headed out of the room. 'Is it possible that this young man can help me with my powers? Where is he though and how can I help him? Should I try and see if I can return the message?' She thought as she walked down the stairs to talk to her mom, her mind filling with more questions.
"Mom, can I talk to you?" Leylah asked her mom as she walked into the small family room.
"Of course my lovely what is it?" Her mother asked as she looked up from her current task and gestured for Leylah to follow her back to the kitchen. "What's the matter my lovely? You look out of sorts." Keru said as she went about making the two of them a cup of tea. Leylah sat quietly and waited until her mom finished the preparations for tea.
"When I was upstairs getting things ready for when we head out later this week, I heard the voice of a young man call in my mind. He sounded like he was in pain and he told me that we are the same." Leylah said. After she finished, an uncomfortable silence fell over the room the only sound being the movements of Zain upstairs.
"Well all I can say is that yours and your brother's powers are very different. As for why this person is in pain he could be thinking that he is the last darkness mage. That pain could be straight up loneliness. How he got a hold of a very old spell could mean he might be from a mage line, so he could teach you and if there is a darkness mage most likely there will be a light one nearby. At least that's my theory anyway."
Keru said after a few moments as she rose from the table. "I love you both very much, never forget that. What I am going to say now will sound as though I don't, but you two can't wait till the end of the week, you will have to leave in the morning. I'm sorry my lovely I fear that if a potential teacher were to slip through your fingers because I kept you both too long I would never forgive myself. Now go get your brother we have a lot to discuss." She said her voice once again as she fought back tears. She feared that if she were to cry that they would hesitate even more to leave and the longer they went without a proper teacher the more of a danger they would become to themselves and others. 'I just hope It's not too late, I should have started looking years ago, but…' she thought before the sounds of two sets of footsteps caught her attention. 'I will just have to hope and pray that my past does not catch up to them.' She thought as she went about explaining the situation.
In a cell somewhere
A young man paced the length of the "room" he knew that at any moment his "guardians" would be there to escort him to the ritual room where they would once again drain his powers to be stored in a strange device that they then use for god knows what. He overheard that they had destroyed the forest just outside the magical barrier almost ten years ago but he didn't know how they had done it. He felt something warm crawl up his back and settle on his shoulder reaching up he felt the warmth of his little friend sitting on his shoulder.
"It's almost time, you need to hide if they find you they will try to kill you again." The young man said placing the small mouse in the makeshift "house" that he had made for it, out of discarded parchment and old quill pens that had broken. No sooner had he hid his little friend that the door was opened.
"Oh good, you're already awake excellent. As you know it's the new moon which means you know what time it is." A man in a dark colored robe and a mask that covered his face. "Come now, don't look at me like that. With your help we have been able to advance far beyond our wildest dreams. Your part of history my boy. Besides you only have to donate your powers once a lunar month that's not too bad now is it." The man continued as he gestured for the young man to follow him.
The young man took a deep breath to steady himself before he stepped out into the corridor. Once he was out in the light it was clear that once he had golden hair that was now a weak yellowish gray, and once brilliant sapphire eyes had paled and held nothing but rage and exhaustion. He knew it was pointless to fight the last time he tried during the ritual they had drained almost to death as punishment.
The walk to the room was quiet; he had no desire to talk with the man walking with him. Fifteen long minutes later they stopped in front of a small ornate door that bore the phase of the moon carved in the wood. The door was opened to reveal a room is decorated in dark blues and purples the perfect representation of darkness magic. In the middle of the room was a large metal ring that was made out of an unknown iridescent element that even with magic it could not be identified. The only thing that the young man knew was that it drained and stored magic. To an outsider the room meant little to nothing but for the young man this was a place of fear and pain.
"Caspian, my dear boy, I'm glad you are here and willing to help us obtain great power. Your help is much appreciated." A man dressed in navy robes with silver borders said a smirk crossed his face as he crossed the room. The silver border marked him as the High priest, he approached the young man with his arms spread wide as he pulled Caspian into a tight embrace, one that he didn't return. He never returned any of the embraces he had been given. These people had been stealing his magic since he was 10 years old.
What they were not aware of was that every time they drained his magic during the three nights of the new moon. He never had much of a chance to recover. But by draining his magic each new moon not only did his magic returned after resting during the day, but it came back stronger. He was only just now strong enough to get a message out beyond the barrier, granted it could only be sent to another darkness mage but it was a start.
'Maybe with enough time and practice I can find someone to help me find my sister if she is even still alive.' He thought as he walked into the circle, and stood waiting for the pain that always came. He heard the flip of a switch from somewhere in the room. In an instant the mage lights that served to light the room vanished leaving only a strange ghostly glow aura around Caspian's body pulsing in a steady rhythm. Soft chanting in a strange language could be bearded from somewhere in the room. Caspian had heard the words before each and every time he stepped foot in that room.
Even though he did not know what they meant he had them engraved into his mind, to him the only thing those words ment was pain. The moment the chanting stopped the circle lit up with a blinding light that began to drain the magic from his body. Even though he had expected the pain he was never prepared for it no matter what he tried, the searing pain that felt as though everyone of his nerves were being burned away tore through his body he felt the power and his strength drain from his body in waves. His vision turned black as he fell to his knees.
The whole thing only took a short two minutes for his magic to drain to nearly gone but for him it felt like an eternity. Curled up softly crying as the light faded just as quickly as it had appeared he knew that it was over. He curled tighter into a ball every muscle in his body spasmed sending waves of what felt like fire through the body.
"Put him back in his room, we are done with him for tonight." The High priest said as he dismissed everyone who was in the room. As usual he didn't remember how he had gotten to his room, and each time since he could remember the odd colored mouse was waiting for him.
"One day, little friend one day we will be free." He muttered as he fell into a deep sleep, tears still falling down his cheeks.