How could you be so stupid!

"How could you be so stupid!"

Faris quietly sat in a chair as both his father and Damien screamed at him for his stupidity and recklessness.

"I know you loved that Faungol, but it's just an instrument! A tool! I can replace it!"

You could have gotten yourself killed! Venka could have snapped our neck like a chicken!

"The villagers will ostracize you! I hate that they acted like this! But still! You allowed your emotions to cloud your judgment like this?!"

They could have discovered the magic! Venka attacked you mentally! Once everything blows over, she'll get suspicious… then!

"Your mother fainted son! You shocked and hurt her that much! I understand how much anger you had against Venka; I truly, really do, but you cannot let it get to you like that!"

"Do you dad?" Faris muttered, "She tormented me for 2 years, smug knowing I couldn't win if I came forward, this would have happened, but without her doing enough for anything to be said or done, and me being ostracized like I will probably be now." He closed his eyes, expecting his dad to smack or hit him. After a few seconds, he looked up to see a sad look on his father's face.

His father removed part of the smock covering his chest, revealing a deep burn scar across his chest, near the end of the burn scar was the final bits of a number, as well as some words taken from a mix of different dialects, dwarven, and even tiny bits of the ancient language. Faris felt his blood run cold as he stared at it.

"Your dad understands what you felt, more so even, but even then, following through on those actions is an empty road…"

Faris looked at his dad. "When were you going to tell me?"

"Probably never." Bergan responded, sighing, "My and your mother's past was… turbulent to say the least. Son, please, promise me you won't give in to such anger again."

Hesitatingly, Faris nodded his head. After a few more minutes of silence he got up, going to his room to slowly clean it.

You… nearly got us killed. Damien muttered.

Faris paused, then punched his head twice. SHUT UP. How about you do something then? If you're so smart, how would you have handled the situation? She broke the Faungol, I could have handled anything else! I could have handled her attacking me. He finished cleaning. Now he was tired, angry, and annoyed. He surveyed the room, the majority of his clothing, sheets, and parchments ruined. As he looked, he grew angrier, sighing, he went to bed, quieting his thoughts and attempting to reach a meditative state before he fell asleep.

He turned and faced his partner in the dance, a young woman with long wavy black hair and violet eyes, who carried a sardonic grin on her face, yet her eyes were content at the very least. He danced with her for what felt like hours. At some point he lost her in the crowd. He began pushing past person after person trying to catch a glimpse of her again, he eventually tripped and fell. A long slender feminine hand reached for his to pull him up, looking up he saw a woman with fiery hair, bright green eyes, ruby red lips stretched into an impish smile.

"For fuck's sake!" Faris fell out of his bed, face beet red.

"Are you okay?" He heard his mom yell from across the hall. "What was that?"

"No! I-I'm okay, it was nothing." Faris replied sheepishly, thanking the heavens that the people of Alagaesia had some different curse words from those he grew up knowing, interestingly enough though, they had turd, arse, ass, and most humorously, bollocks. 10 paddles had taught him that lesson.

Sighing to himself Faris angrily slapped himself in the face to cool down and get his mind off any thoughts of V-

"Better yet I shouldn't think at all" He murmured quietly before almost swearing as a bit of his salty sweat got into his lash wound in his hand. His thoughts returned to Venka, but now on the pressing matter that he felt maybe she should pay for his wrongful punishment.

No… ignore it, Faris, calm down, go back to bed. You hate her so much that she's literally invading your dreams, go back to bed. Damien pressed.

Wait. Faris cocked his head, a tiny alarm bell began to ring. That's my ward, my alarm ward, it's… He sighed, It's the stuffed rabbit I let Venka keep.

That's for magic detection, Faris, this is Venka we're talking about, she has magic, she uses magic.

This isn't her magic, you know that. Faris leaps from the roof, rolling as he lands. He sprints to her home. Venka's parents were loosely related to one of the nobles in the area, so they had a decent amount of wealth, which was the reason behind the mansion they lived in.

Immediately he could tell that something was wrong, the upstairs window to Jean and Aina's master bedroom was wide open, and the main foyer's lamp, which was in a glass, which their family always had on at night, was off, yet the candle was still inside and there was no sign of it being opened. Faris got a bad feeling, yet began to head inside. A quick 2 spells to quiet the door then one to muffle his footsteps drained a bit more out of him that he had anticipated, but he continued forward regardless, when he reached their kitchen area, he noticed the glint of a recently cleaned butcher's knife, with a bit of trepidation he grabbed it. A loud thump upstairs emboldened him to begin his march upstairs. The door to Venka's parent's room was open ajar, and moonlight came through it, bright enough to be seen in the hallway.

Faris, we should-

No, we shouldn't if they're in danger I'm going to try and help.

Faris gulped as he crept forward quietly. Peering into the room he looked away in terror, fighting back the urge to puke. He may have had a dislike for Venka, but her parents had always been kind to everyone in the village. Tears began to glisten in his eyes, blurring his vision. He heard another thump coming from Venka's room. Cold dread began to fill him up, a chill originating from his spine all the way up to his ears caused him to spasm slightly, and his stomach felt empty yet clogged up. As he crept towards Venka's room, Faris gripped the knife tightly, his knuckles turning white from the effort. As he looked into Venka's room he almost couldn't believe his eyes. It was Anya, but a little different, she was now cloaked in a billowing robe, wielding a wand in one hand. A bloodied dagger in the other hand. Her head was completely bald, a blond wig lying to the side. She looked down contemptuously at the figure lying before her, a terrified, crying Venka.

"Stupid child!" Anya hissed, "Ever since you let that common boy get under your skin you've been growing wilder and wilder, if not because of your prestige, I would have killed everyone the second that child came out of the forest with your failure of a self!"

Faris narrowed his eyes. This was against state magician law, a mage shouldn't and couldn't attack innocents. Anya struck Venka across the face with the pommel of her dagger, the girl screamed in pain.

"I came to this backwater muck town because of your magic, but it seems I let my senses be overtaken. She's near, she's been here, I should have assumed it whenever I saw that black werecat." She bit her thumbnail, angrily thinking, "How is she still here! Why hasn't she attacked me yet! She should have realized by now!"

Realized what? Faris thought.

"Dammit! Now that this has happened. I can't stay here anymore, I'll have to return, but you're coming with me, you're a stupid girl, but your magic power is useful enough, perhaps cutting you open will reveal those secrets."

Venka whimpered in fear and pain. "I want my mommy…."

Anya laughed and grabbed Venka by the hair, Faris panicked and began backing out and crept behind the door. He heard Venka cry out in terror as Anya yanked her forward, he saw them enter her parents' room. What followed was the sound of a choking sob that tore at Faris, blinded by rage he took out the butcher knife. He bound into the room, Anya was completely unawares, but caught his shadow from the light, turning her head just as Faris' knife plunged into her face, only to bounce off her wards in futility. Anya turned around to see Faris and lifted her hand, she began chanting a few short words and Faris began to feel hot as his energy rapidly drained, faster than it ever had in his life. In his desperation he connected to Venka, who looked up in confusion as he took some energy from her, the energy was huge, larger than he had remembered earlier, if he could put it in a size comparison, if he was a lit match, and Anya a small campfire, she was a literal volcano.

Anya's face contorted in confusion when Faris did not explode in a hail of fire. Then twisted into a mix of horror and hatred when a dresser was launched into her like a charging bull, brass knobs first, it did not break through the wards but weakened it enough that Faris was confident enough to throw his butcher knife at her, she on reflex lifted her arms to block it, confident her wards would save her. Her face twisted into an even deeper mask of horror as Faris screamed out.

"Galdr iet stál, ramr mïnen daert, finna auga!" (Strengthen my steel, strong deadly blade. Find her eye!)

The blade pierced her defenses, slicing clean through her right hand and hitting her in-between her eyes. It wasn't a deep cut at all, and she reached her remaining hand over to remove it.

"Bjartr bleikr ignasia! Drjugr Ramr titlingr! Istalri!" He screamed, grabbing Venka and covering her eyes before bolting out of the room. The blade caught on fire, it was a light grey, almost silver color, and the metal began to grow very bright, illuminating everything in extreme detail.

Anya screamed something out and his back felt hot as the room erupted in flames, bypassing parts of his defense, he covered Venka with his body as the flames burned him, pushing her out of the room with him, with them both running down the steps, he could hear the banshee like cries of Anya as she attempted to kill him and Venka, but he had already warded both of them as best he could. She had no choice but to chase after them. As the children bolted out of the house the flames erupted from the top of the mansion with a loud whoosh and angry crackling, shouts of panic could be heard all around the village, the mansion was a little further out from the town but most of the houses still had wooden roofs, if the wind caught the flames…

"Momma! Papa!" Venka sobbed, Faris looked at her with a mix of pity and sadness. This was his fault, and he needed to atone for it.

"Waíse heill" He whispered, mending her bruises and curing the pain, he had almost no energy left, yet her magical reserves seemed only somewhat touched by the entire ordeal.

"I, I'm so sorry Venka." He whispered. "But we have to go! We can't let her find us here, she could destroy more of the village!"

She continued her sobbing, ignoring him.

"Please! You're strong enough to stop her!" Faris pleaded with her. But Venka made no change, Faris simply grabbed her arm and began running, she followed after him, stumbling a few times, by now they had entered the forest, Anya on hot pursuit. The cries of the villagers could be heard now, panicking as they began to try and fight the fire.

As Faris and Venka continued deeper into the forest he began to hear Anya's voice echoing around.

"You were foolish to enter here child. But… I'm surprised a boy your age would know such words; I will take pleasure tearing them from your mind."

Faris ignored her voice, but Venka whimpered. Tearing up again, Faris looked at her. "Venka, please, I need you to be strong. Please!"

Shit! He thought as the tree behind him blew up. He grabbed Venka and dove into some shrubs as Anya stumbled into the clearing.

"I'll have to hand it to you, I don't know how you bypassed my wards, your light and this, sound I hear make it hard to concentrate, it makes me feel frustrated enough to find your parents and kill them, you wouldn't want that would you?"

"You're just bluffing" Faris said. Anya blasted the tree behind her, in a completely different direction from them. After a few moments she scowled.

"I can and will annihilate your entire town after this is over, if you surrender now, I'll give them a painless death."

Faris did not get up. He needed to exhaust her a little more, if he could get her weak enough that she could no longer use her wards, then they could win, all he had to do was wait. He turned to his right to see how Venka was doing. Only to see she was missing, he reached out in a panic, alerting Anya to his mind. She began to attack him mentally, striking like a jackhammer, instead of trying to pierce whatever defenses he had, she instead merely tried to break them down. Any other moment Faris would have wiped the floor with her in a mental duel, her technique was strong but inefficient, but he had three handicaps, he was in almost debilitating pain from the burns, which would have taken too long to heal with Anya chasing after him, and if he attacked back, she might glimpse that he was spent and had gained the energy to fuel his wards and spells through Venka, who he was not connected to at the moment. Even then, it was a bit more akin to a stalemate, though he had the slight advantage in their mental struggle. That was of course until she found the bush he had been in and kicked him in the stomach. He barely kept up his defenses as he now began to fight for his life, grabbing for her knife hand. He missed, but so did she, burying it deep in the ground, he took this opportunity to smash a rock into her face, disorienting her, she unconsciously lifted a hand and launched a fire ball at him, which he barely leaped out of the way from. Her mind had tensed for retaliation, then confusion when none came forward, he swung at her with a big stick before she could put her thoughts together, she narrowed her eyes and reached forward to grab him, he struck her in the throat as hard as he could, getting her to double down into his raised knee.

She cast a spell, pinning him in the air, and grabbed her dagger, ready to plunge it into his eye when a ball of water compressed enough to be as solid as concrete crashed into her back. She growled and turned around to see Venka wielding 20 of these watermelon sized water balls. She began launching them at Anya, who tried dodging one after the other before one smacked her right in the face, breaking several bones, Anya raised her remaining arm, getting it twisted in an unnatural angle as the last aqua ball shot into it and buried itself slightly into her chest. The ball of water shattered as that occurred, causing Venka to give a double take as Anya ripped off her robe, revealing an exoskeleton like armor. Anya raised her wand and cast a spell at Venka, who screamed as a wall of fire attempted to bypass the wards Faris had set up and burn her to a crisp.

"Die child! Perish like your useless parents." Anya crowed as she continued her barrage of fire, the jewel in her wand glowing.

Faris used this lapse in concentration on her part to spread his mind to the animals in the vicinity, one animal in particular he had been keeping tabs on.

"Moi hugr" (change mind) he croaked, feeling his head slump forward, he was nearly spent, yet didn't feel tired, or in pain, just sleepy. But his spell had done its job. Anya was too absorbed in her victory to realize the half ton bear crashing through the foliage and slamming into her until too late, her wand knocked out of her hand she began to fight in vain as the bear tore into her, before she screamed out one of the thirteen words of death. The bear collapsed on the spot, dying tragically. Faris reached his mind to the bear, it had died, but the majority of its energy remained, he took it all in, as much as he could, all to cast his spell. He began to connect to all the plants in the clearing.

"Havr!" (possess)

The vines and branches moved to surround Anya, who was caught by surprise by this sudden onslaught, Faris took this opportunity to finally break past her defenses, and tear into her mind, he was not gentle in the slightest as he tore into it, every time she attempted to cast a spell in retaliation, he was quicker.

"Jierda" (break)

Her screams of agony where his symphony; any second in which he had felt he would falter, he thought of Venka's parents. He doubled his efforts, learning everything she knew, and when he finished, he prepared his spell, he let Anya realize what it was, let her realize what he planned, and in her panicked fear she begged for his mercy. Her words fell on deaf ears as Faris uttered…

"Jierda Hugr"

Anya's mouth opened slack, and a mix of drool and blood flowed out of it as she collapsed on the floor, comatose. Faris looked down at her in disgust and hate, whether more towards himself or her, he didn't know. He turned to look at Venka, who stared at him dumbfounded, teary eyed, and more than a little fearful.

He looked at her and gave a sad smile, tears finally glistening as he cried his apologies, before collapsing on the floor. Leaving Venka as the only one awake and able to do anything as a large shaggy black cat with glowing red eyes, followed by a teenage girl with violet eyes and wavy black hair crashed into the clearing.