Before going much further I want to take the time to answer a few questions;
Guest 2: I'll keep that idea in mind, though I won't make any promises.
Bookwrm123: Thank you for your insight, and you raise an excellent point. My initial headcanon is that the age gap is at least big enough for Tazma to pull pranks on Malvaron when he was a baby, as evidenced in "The Mask", as well as to eavesdrop on Nova and Gandobi during the flashback in "Through My Enemy's Eyes".
With all that being said, I do hope you all enjoy this part.
Several days have come and gone, and at the moment, nightfall had befallen the Forest of Bryn. Where day time creatures have turned in for the night, night time creatures emerged to forage, seek new territory, and some hunted for their next meal. Knowing that nocturnal predators could appear at any given moment, Zorlon had casted a barrier spell to specifically keep such creatures at bay. To do this, he had extracted sap from a tree and poured a circle around the campsite. After that, he sprinkled fairy dust on the sap, chanting wiccan spells which created invisible barrier which kept predators out, but they could he and the kids could still exit. At least He, as well as Tazma and Malvaron, wouldn't have to worry about getting attacked by predators in their sleep.
Yet, predators were the least of what was on poor young Malvaron's mind. He knew his parents were out there, he just wished he knew where. He then turned his attention to Zorlon's staff. It seems like a pretty powerful relic. For such a young boy, Malvaron was very smart, and he thought this staff might help augment his own little bit of magic, that he and his sister evidently possessed. He snuck over to the staff, trying very hard not to wake the older mage, who was seemingly fast asleep. Being as quiet as a mouse, he managed to take the staff, walking a little way from the campsite to practice with it. Little did he know, Zorlon was actually hardly asleep, and noticed Malvaron took the staff, opening one eye to see the young mage waking away with it. Without hesitation, Zorlon followed the young mage.
Malvaron went to a nearby stream to practice with the staff. He tried several stances to try and activate it. He even tried tapping it on the ground, swinging it a few times, causing him to fall into the shallow stream. Ultimately, all his attempts failed, much to the boy's annoyance.
"You're going about it wrong.", Said Zorlon, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He held out his hand in a gesture to see his staff. Malvaron, somewhat disheartened, gave Zorlon his staff, to which the mage demonstrated his magic abilities.
"The staff is not a source of power, but rather an extension to your entire being. It helps you channel your abilities, and control them." In that moment, he tapped on the ground just once, and collected a small portion of water from the stream "The key is focus. Once you focus your abilities, it is under your command. I take it you know magic?"
"I know a little." Said Malvaron, "Mommy and Daddy did magic. Tazma is better at it though. I'm learning, but I don't know if I'll be any good."
"Learning is what's important, little one. I wasn't that good at magic when I was young. But the more you learn, the better you get."
Zorlon gestured Malvaron to use his magic to lift a piece of the water. Raising a hand, the young mage focused on the stream as hard as he could. Once concentrated hard enough, he lifted a small sphere of water from the stream. Zorlon placed a hand on Malvaron's shoulder, letting him know he did well. Malvaron was very happy by that. He had a long way to go, but he was on his way to greatness.
Yet all joy was cut short. For Zorlon sensed an evil presence. Clearly they were not alone. Malvaron could sense it as well, and as such he stayed close to Zorlon. The mighty mage stood there waiting for the evil to reveal itself, is staff already glowing, ready for action.
As if on cue, a skeleton warrior jumped right out of the bushes, ready to cut both mages in two with a terrifying blade. In the nick of time, Zorlon blocks the blade with his staff, then kicks the skeleton away, then twirls his staff and unleashes a blue fireball which disintegrated the skeleton to ash. Malvaron was scared, but at the same time he was also very impressed, having gotten a glance of Zorlon's power first hand. But despite the skeleton's demise, Zorlon knew they weren't out of danger yet. After all, where there was one, there were sure to be more.
"It's no longer safe in his area, we must gather your sister and leave!", Said Zorlon in a fearful one. As quick as they could, they both were making their way back to the campsite. Thankfully, it was not disturbed. Zorlon quickly went and side the tent to wake Tazma, who was sound asleep. "Wake up child, we need to move."
"Ugh, what could be so important that you had to wake me." Tazma said, quite annoyed her sleep was disturbed.
"There's no time to explain!" Zorlon replied forcefully, "We have to go, now!"
Somewhat unnerved, Tazma did exactly as Zorlon said and followed him out of the tent. With a snap of his fingers, Zorlon levitated all the essential s in backpack, and then without a moment to spare, all three were on their way. Sure enough, they spotted two skeletons, along with a tall one with a cape, red skull with fangs, and two arm blades, searching the area for any resources they may find useful, as as any potentially victims to become one of the undead. As discreetly as they could, the trio hid in the shadows.
"Were they the ones who took your parents?" Zorlon asked in a whispered voice.
"Yes!." Tazma replied, her hand glowing of a magic aura, ready to take vengeance on the two skeletons.
"No!" Zorlon quickly pulled Tazma back and negated her magic with his own. "We can't blow our cover. There may seem to be just three, but more could be around the area." He looked for any shadowed path he could find. To his relief, he found one. "This way.", he motioned.
The trio made their way through the shadowy path, avoiding detection from the marauding skeletons. More and more began to appear, which was making their situation more dire.
"Ow!", Tazma yelped, in a whispered tone, "watch where your stepping dummy!"
"It wasn't my fault, you were moving too slow!" Replied Malvaron, acting defensive. Little did they know that the commotion caught the attention of the red faced skeleton, who made his way to their location. Without a moment for spare, Zorlon shushed them both and pulled them behind a shrub.
The red faced skeleton looked pretty thoroughly around the area, he could have sworn he heard two children bickering. Meanwhile, the trio were being very silent. They were indeed nervous, in a situation like this, silence was indeed golden. After a long moment of silence, the red faced skeleton began walking away, losing interest. Zorlon took a small sigh of relief, only for it to be broken by the sound of a twig snapping.
"Oops", Malvaron said. And just like that, The red faced skeleton charged, his sword ready to skewer them all. In the nick of time, Zorlon blocked with his staff, using a magical blast to push the Skeleton away. The three mages then find themselves surrounded by an army of skeletons, staring at them with hostile intent.
"So this is where the children went." Said the red skulled skeleton, with a deep, growling voice, "How touching that you took them in as if they were your own."
"Leave now!" Zorlon demanded, pointing his staff at the assailant, "You've already done enough, surrender now, or —"
"What have you done to my mom and dad!?" Interrupted Tazma, pointing her finger right at the vile skeleton.
"Oh yes, them. I'm afraid there's been… an terrible accident" The red skulled skeleton sardonically said, to which the two children had horrified faces. "They weren't willing to cooperate, so much so that they tried to escape, using force. Naturally, I had to make an example of them."
From there it was clear what happened. They were dead. While young Malvaron was tearing up, Tazma was clenching her fist, forming a bit of black magic in her hand, much to Malvaron's shock. Zorlon stood firm, in a warriors stance, ready to fight off the skeletons. The red skulled skeleton raised his sword at him, poised to attack.
"What happened to their parents was unfortunate. However, perhaps their children could prove of better use. Surrender them now, Wizard, and no harm shall come to you."
"You want them?" Zorlon slammed his staff to the ground, accepting the challenge, "You'll have to get through me first!"
From there, all the skeletons went for it, charging like angry bulls. As if like lightning, Zorlon as taking them all on, taking them all apart, one after another. Both siblings were awestruck by the sight. Meanwhile, the red skulled skeleton was only mildly impressed. With a raise of his hand, he summoned even more skeletons to join the fight.
Zorlon kept fighting hard, as he used lighting bolts, blue fireballs, shock waves, and advanced melee combat in between such techniques to dispatch the vile skeleton warriors. For every skeleton that he had taken down, more seemed to have arrived. It was a rather long struggle, for he was slowly running out of breath. But the powerful wizard wasn't going to give up, not while lives were at stake.
Finally, the red skulled skeleton has seen enough,and jumps into the fight. With his flame styled sword, he ignites it and throws a fireball at Zorlon. Zorlon blocks it with a blue energy field from his staff, and both collided. Zorlon made a back flip from the murderous skeleton, firing blue flames at him. The red faced skeleton countered with his own flames, blocking each attack. The red faced skeleton then charged up his sword, ready to unleash a large blast. Once his sword charged up, he unleashed an extremely powerful fire blast. Zorlon thought fast, and blasted a beam of light, which turned the fiery blast to a flock of butterflies. Angered, the red faced skeleton charged with his sword.
The battle seemed to be touch and go for a while until the red skulled skeleton gained the upper hand, throwing red dust at Zorlon, causing him to choke. More skeletons soon arrived and chained Zorlon's arms so he couldn't fight back. The red skulled skeleton then turned his attention to the children, who have been apprehended as well.
However, just when all hope seems lost, a magic beam of purple light blasted the vile revenant away from the children. From the skies, hooded figures with reddish brown robes joined in and began eradicating the skeletons. Feeling he was outmatched, the red skulled skeleton called a retreat to his cohorts, to which they called forth giant vultures and flew off. While some of these mysterious figures gave chase, a few hung back and freed Zorlon from his binds.
"Thank you." Zorlon said, "If you hadn't have come we might have-"
"You have impressive talents mage." One of the wizards interrupted, in a rather high pitched yet stern town, "Yet, if you thought you could take the Spectral Hand then you were very foolish." Said wizard them pulled down his hood to reveal an old man with a beard and long hair, as well as a sour expression. The other two beside him did the same, both revealed to be a man and women, who appeared to be at least in their early forties.
"I see. And who do I have to pleasure of addressing?" Zorlon questioned, curious.
"You May refer to me as Nova Terron. These are my cohorts, Quasarla and Gandobi. We are members of the astromancer council."
"Nice to meet you all. Now, you called these skeletons the spectral hand. What are they exactly?"
"Fool!" Shouted Quasarla, as if that was a foolish question, "they are minions of an ancient evil who plagued Gemina for centuries."
"And the individual in particular you just fought was general Valonar." Gandobi added, "We've been hunting him down for some time, he's set out to destroy every mage I'm Gemina, for reasons we have yet to discover."
Nova took some time to inspect Zorlon, having gazed upon the remains of the skeletons during his battle with them. He could tell Zorlon was exceptionally powerful and skilled with the mystic arts. He then turned his attention to the children, who he could sense some magic from as well.
"As I said before, your talents are impressive. Yet, perhaps under my guidance, they could be something more. And with that monster hunting mages, it might be safer for you and your starlings here to come with us to the academy."
Zorlon eyes widened after that, as did Tazma's and Malvaron's. They have heard of the astromancer academy, yet never imagined they'd ever enter it, much less become members. Of course, Gandobi and Quasarla couldn't help but protest."
"Star Master, we have no time for stragglers, we really should-"
"Silence!" Yelled Nova, causing Gandobi to flinch, " These are dire times, and we will need all the help we can get." He then turns back to Zorlon, "So, do you have an answer?"
Zorlon thought about this for a moment. He knew little about the astromancers, and given past circumstances it was hard for him to trust anyone. At the same time, he knew very well he had children to care for now, and with a bloodthirsty army of skeletons after mages, options were rather limited.
"I accept. I hope to train under you, Master Terron, and I'll be happy to pass on what I know to Tazma and Malvaron here. It would be an honor and a blessing."
"As you wish, though I warn you, the next few days of training will be the most intense of your life. Onward now, the starship is this way."
Without a moment to spare, Zorlon, Malvaron, and Tazma made their way to the starship. Zorlon wasn't sure what the future held from there, but he at least took comfort that there would be a roof over their heads from here on out.
That's part two out of the way. Hopefully I can get started on the next and final part soon for this particular story, but I'll get there when I get there. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and I hope you enjoyed.