Towers of an Impenetrable Darkness
Volume One: The Intertwining Light and Shadow
The Emperor and His Advisors:
Lozyl – Emperor of Kaladacia, also known as the Beloved or his Leniency, or Lenience.
Cheevyl – The Beloved's Empress, Titled her Beauty, for she is the most fair of all woman in Kaladacia.
Kerenyd – Lord-Advisor and High Councillor of the Political Council. Titled his Lordship formally, or to some, just Ser.
Skye – Originally from Argate, now Mage-Advisor. His formal title is Ser Mage, or his Mageship.
Ferral – Military-Advisor and Skye's best friend. Titled his Warness formally.
Wrelyt – Engineer-Advisor, his formal title is, Honoured Engineer.
Talanyt – Trade-Advisor, his formal title is Ser Trader, or Ser Factor.
Hylan – Navy-Advisor, his formal title is his Warness, or High Navy-General.
Kaladacian Lancers – High Command
Lancer Elite Corps
Skayl – Over-Marshal
Cynyl – Marshal
Rafyl – Under-Marshal
Mage-Lancers
Hylyr – Mage-Commander
Gerdamh – Over-commander
Gunnar – Commander-Captain
Engineer-Corp Lancers
Clayn – Over-Commander
Mrayt – Regiment Commander
Lyselle – Majer-Commander
Kaladacian Navy
Ollayt – Navy Over-Marshal
Myrata – Navy Commander-Admiral
Jeyral – High-Commander
Teran – High-Majer
Syvnyr – High-Captain.
Kaladacian Lancers – Low Command
Lancer Elites
Gityl – Tactical Commander
Clynnth – Force Commander
Yull – Regimental Commander I
Hynnah – Regimental Commander II
Lien – Force Majer
Tyrl – Captain
Drevyl - Captain
Mage-Lancers
Fledyl – Tactical Commander
Dayn - Logistics-Commander
Vyrt – Commander
Cabayt – Majer
Blynt – Sub-Majer
Aejyrt – Sub-Majer
Neylyt – Over-Captain
Ranylt – Captain
Engineer-Corp Lancers
Talynr – Commander
Valney – Sub-Commander
Dewyn - Majer
Cumaryn – Sub-Majer
Gryan – Sub-Majer
Kelvyn – Captain
Blynnh - Sub-Captain
Liege Lords
Bron – Lord Mykryl
Mylar – Lord Flevyr
Sylania – Lord Zygran
Tryht – Lord Camryn
Arelkyn – Lord-Councillor Lyndyn
Kahnla – Lord Heyl
Fanryn – Lord Nevyr
City of Traders (Sekynt) – Lord-Factor Jelaryn
Port of the Beloved (Jalme) – Lord-Mariner Petrev
Erylyn – Lord Neryl, also known as his Lordship or Neryl the Great.
Palace Guards
Elite Guard
Felryn – Over-Commander
Veiyt – Over-Majer
Tlieryn – Over-Captain
Places
Continents
Rynstad – Continent in the North-west regions of Corath.
Kern – Continent in the Equatorial regions of Corath.
Veyren – Land mass in the North-east regions of Corath.
North Polua – Continent on the Northern Pole.
South Syskemia – A Relatively large island on the Southern Pole.
Krystyd – Large island in South-west Corath.
Islands
Isle of Skrath – Small island in the Sea of Tranquility, in Kern.
Kylarh – Tiny island located within the Western Equatorial regions of Corath.
South Rynsta – A Very large island, situated south of the continent of Rynstad.
Wrelpn – The island on which the Ice Wizards make their home. Although Ice Wizards control ice bolts, the island of Wrelpn rarely ever has ice on it, except during winter. Situated in the Sea of Peril, and why it is named thus.
Cities
Koren – The principal city of Argate.
Fyodor – City of the Palace, principal city of Skart.
Idylyn – City of the Beloved, City of the Forest; the principal city in Kaladacia.
Kuartz – City of the Embassy and the principal city in Salendor.
Pronunciations
Places
Corath – Cor-wrath
Fyodor – Fi-yo-door
Wrelpn – W-rel-pin
Idylyn – I-del-lin
Rynstad – Rin-sta-ed
Rynsta – Rin-sta
Polua – Poh-loo-ah
Kuartz – Koo-ar-tiz
Alasia – A-lay-shah
Skrath – Ska-rath
Syskemia – Sisk-eem-ee-ah
Krystyd – Ka-ris-tid
Veyren – Vay-rin
Counquan – Co-in-kwahn
Arelkyn – Ah-rel-kin
Sylania – Si-lane-ee-ah
Sekynt – See-kint
Tryht - Trite
Erylyn - Air-ra-lin
Kahnla - Ka-na-lah
People and Cultures
Hai'Ynl – Hay-yin-all
Hai'Caval – Hay-ca-vall
Hylua – Hi-al-loo-ah
Luylt – Loo-y-alt
Jakyro'yah – Ja-keer-ro-yah
Hylyr – High-lie-ah
Gerdamh – Ger-dam (silent H)
Ryo'Alegal – Ree-oh-ah-lee-gahl
Ferral – Fer-rahl
Lozyl – Loh-ze-all
Cheevyl – Shee-vy-all
Vaynh – Vane (silent H)
Fyryd – Fy-a-rid
Jyien – Jy-en (silent I)
Tlieryn – Tee-lee-ah-rin
Jierans – Gee-er-rans
Kleryssa – Kler-ris-ah
Kerenyd – Ker-ren-ide
Xorl - Ex-orl
Altran – El-trin
Geltharis – Gel-far-is (long pronounced Arrr in far)
Talanyt – Tah-lah-nite
Keldyl – Kel-dee-all
Drawyt – Draw-it
Mythros - Mee-far-ohs
Part One: Tales of Kern Age 04 Yer 00-155
Chapter One: A rather expected journey to Counquan
A young magician stomped down the shadowy path, accentuated greatly by the bright, luminescent full moon. The young man wore a vicious look on his light face; his bushy eyebrows swallowing much of the malice contained in his dark, blue-flecked eyes.
The young man’s name was Skye. He was travelling the stone-tiled road of Koren, the capital city of Argate, empire of the Blessed Ones.
Skye had been sent from the city, since the elder magicians had decided that he was too much trouble to train. Skye had stormed out of the earlier meeting; the stubborn elder magicians had tested his short patience and he knew very well that he would not be allowed back until he had fulfilled their foolish expectations.
Skye stopped thinking and applied his mind back to the task ahead, as difficult as it seemed; however, Skye drew upon his comfort in his fairytale life of being solitary and relying on no other man.
Skye was the lone wolf; he would only ever trust one other man, his friend, actually best friend, Ferral, who by default Skye had to leave behind.
Speaking of the devil, not literally but figuratively speaking, that dratted swordsman approached behind him, at least he thought it was Ferral, judging by the footsteps of the heavy metal-soled boots*.
“Skye?” the dark figure asked him, “Ferral, is that you?” Skye queried warily. “Yes, it's me. Who else would you expect it to be?” Ferral replied, somewhat sharply.
“No matter. I'm glad to see you though, my friend” Skye then grabbed the other man in a fierce hug. Ferral groaned at the onslaught, then he returned the hug and almost crushed the more slight figure of the magician.
Skye gasped for breath and Ferral released him quickly.
“You great lump” Skye breathed heavily and then he grinned at the stolid swordsman. “I'm glad to see you too, Skye. I was worried when you didn't come back from that meeting. I take it they exiled you then?” Ferral asked with concern.
“Yes!” Skye growled angrily, “those frigging bastards don't even understand me, they just assume that I'm not trying hard enough to control my magic”.
“At least we're leaving. Where are we going to go?” Ferral asked him.
“Counquan. It's reasonably close and once we are there we can decide what we are going to do” Skye decided quickly. “Good plan my friend; how long will it take to get to Counquan?” Ferral wondered out loud. “By my estimate it should take no longer than a day to get there” the magician told his friend.
“Well okay then Skye” Ferral agreed cheerily and then they started walking. Skye extended his senses around the area. Then he relaxed; “I can't sense anything beyond two Centimes, so we should be safe for a while. I'll check again once we have left the area and make sure that there aren't any Krellon” Skye says to Ferral, reassuringly. They resumed walking on the nicely paved road until they came to the end of the path. Skye and Ferral were looking into the great beyond, stretching a thousand square Centimes across Argate. It would take them almost a day to cut through the dry, sparse land and then a couple more hours to cut through a tropical forest. Once they left the forest, they would be almost in Counquan. Skye kept walking, although he wished that they were in the tropical forest already. “It looks like it's going to rain” Ferral predicted.
As well as being proficient with a blade, Ferral was also a cloud elemental. He could sense rain, lightning, thunder, upsurges in wind, ice, snow, hail, humidity and even tell if a hurrikan, twister or ice-storm was coming. Ferral was already rather skilled in making the wind blow and changing the air currents to other places. He could even make a small storm if he was angry enough.
Skye was completely different; he couldn't even hold a decent blade, the cold iron gave him a headache. He could handle a staff though, and he could use the staff to channel magic. Skye was better at a different kind of magic. Skye could generally sense objects and organisms in the distance, either by the change in temperature or voice pattern, and footsteps.
Skye could read a person's face, but that didn't take magic. He would be able to tell if someone was lying, or wasn't telling the truth, by reading their facial expressions and nervous ticks. Skye had once tried to fool a professor at the University of Koren. Not that he had studied long there; the elder magicians had removed him rather quickly, though he had only spent a year at the university. The lecturer concerned was also a great Link-Mage. Skye had tried to make remove links from surrounding link-magic and the professor had sensed this. Because the lecturer was a Link-Mage he had felt the change in concentration of link-magic around them. Professor Slyayn had immediately become suspicious and hauled him in front of Director Hyolt. The director realised it had been a mishap and had sent the lecturer off. “If you try another trick like that young Skye, then you will be exiled for sure. Why did you do it?” he asked solemnly. Skye replied that he was trying to see if he could control link-magic himself. “Professor Slyayn is an accomplished Link-Mage, he can sense what you do and take the proper precautions” Director Hyolt said dryly. Skye simply nodded and looked sorry. The director had nodded and told him to behave himself better in the future.
Skye swore and looked up at the darkening clouds. “We better wait under this tree” Skye pointed at a gnarled tree, probably one of the few that actually survived in this wasteland.
Ferral nodded, “aye, it's a bit wet for my liking. Should we continue at dawn?” Ferral asked questioningly. “Yeah. We want to try and get to Counquan before dark” Skye replied. “Right. Let's get sheltered then” Ferral hurried over to the tree and settled underneath it.
Skye turned the tree into a hut and then opened the door and walked inside, leaving Ferral with an expression of wonder on his face. “How did you do that?!” Ferral asked him sharply, once they had both sat down. “Magic!” Skye chuckled foolishly. Ferral glared at him. “I mean what sort of magic?” Ferral grimaced. “Just the normal kind” Skye said aloofly. Ferral sighed and subsided. “I've never tried magic like that before” Skye admitted. “Really? I thought you had tried many kinds of magic...” Ferral wondered blandly. “Well... I have but that was based under a different principle. That was based on the Principle of Constructive Magic, where something is made out of thin air. But it has it's vices too; this kind of magic uses link-magic from other sources, and may affect other people too. If I made food appear in front of you right now, for example. This would effectively steal the link-magic from other peoples' food and someone may even die just to appease the magician, or Mage, that can't be bothered to make his own food!” Skye explicated.
“How would they die?” Ferral asked, sounding relatively interested. “Because when you steal link-magic from an organism, it would cease to exist, but in this case it would be from starvation. It's also a good way to kill someone quickly, just by stealing their own link-magic” Skye said cunningly. “Wow, there are certainly many ways to kill someone” Ferral gasped, he had only really begun to delve into his weather magic.
“Yeah. A lot of spells and different kinds of magic are deadly when used incorrectly*” Skye said knowingly. “You're telling me. I hardly know any magic at all. I'd hardly call fiddling with the weather true magic” Ferral snorted to himself. Skye chuckled to himself and then lay down on the wooden slats. “Hardly comfortable, but they will do” Skye said out loud.
“What are you talking about?” Ferral asked, “just the wooden slats my dear Ferral” Skye replied and then he fell asleep rather abruptly. Ferral lay awake for some time. He couldn't sleep and decided to check outside for any Krellon or other creatures.
He opened the door quietly and walked over to a rock in the middle of the ground. It was still raining and Ferral could sense that it was going to be raining for another glass, maybe even only half. He couldn't see any Krellon, so he went back to the hut. He lay back down on the wooden slats, careful not to wake Skye up. The magician tended to be grumpy when he was tired. Ferral fell into a light slumber.
After about two glasses, Ferral woke up again. He went back outside to check the weather. It was no longer raining and the sun was starting to rise. Ferral went back inside and woke Skye up. “It's time to go Skye. It's almost dawn and it's stopped raining. Skye woke and after a moment he got up and walked over to the small window, “ah. It looks like it's going to be a nice day” the magician mused quietly. “Breakfast?” Ferral asked with concern, as his stomach gave a loud rumble. “I suppose so. We can make grain porridge, it's quick and we don't actually have much other food” Skye told his friend. “Aye, it'll have to do.”
They quickly made the porridge and ate it almost twice as fast. Once they had finished they left the hut. Skye enchanted it back to a tree and then glanced at Ferral to see the expression on his face. Ferral stared back, trying not to blink or laugh. Skye laughed first, then Ferral started laughing as well. “Okay then, let's go” Skye said after the laughing fit had subsided.
They started walking once more, ready to get to Counquan as quick as they could. The great wasteland was sopping wet, with the rocks glistening with the moisture and the ground was so wet that it had almost turned completely to mud, or a clay-like substance. Ferral sent out a string of obscene words. “Lovely language my dear swordsman, where did you learn those words?” Skye asked cheekily.
“Shut up!” Ferral growled mock-ferociously. “That's not very nice” Skye pouted indignantly. “Well I was only kidding, you sop” Ferral stated teasingly. “Well I suppose that it's all right then. Hold on!” Skye stopped suddenly, evidently sensing danger of some sort. “What is it?” Ferral asked. “I can sense something, not exactly sure what though. It may be Krellon or it may a rogue Mage. But I'm sure that it or they could mean us harm” Skye decided quickly.
“Frag. Okay how far away are they?” Ferral asked desperately, hoping that they weren't too close. “They are at least two Centimes, but likely three away” Skye stated frankly.
“Can we avoid them?” Ferral asked.
“No. Whether they are Krellon or a Mage, they will be able to sense us. We may as well prepare for a fight and not hide” Skye sniffed.
“Ah I see. Well let us announce our exalted presences, so we may take them by surprise, rather them taking us by surprise” Ferral exclaimed, a little too jovially.
“Hmm, not a bad idea actually. They won't be expecting us to be expecting them, this may work yet” Skye agreed subtly.
They kept walking, if they stopped then the beings would sense that the two knew they were there. Once they had covered the first two Centimes, Skye advanced his senses towards the direction that the offenders had been.
“Ah I can't sense anything now, except I have the feeling that they may be covered with a plane distancer*” Skye shivered inwardly, he had a bad feeling about this.
“But only Ice Wizards use plane distancers, Skye. What should we do now?” Ferral snapped desperately.
“Summon a fire storm if you can my friend, that will make it a bit hot for them” Skye stated matter-of-factly.
“A fire storm?” Ferral asked questionably.
“Yeah” Skye muttered.
“I'm a cloud elemental you idiot” Ferral snapped impatiently.
“Look, we don't have time for this, let's just get it over and done with” the swordsman sighed, exasperated with Skye's eccentric behaviour.
“Okay then” came the impatient reply.
They marched into the distance, as quickly as possible. Skye thought he heard something slightly east to where they were, so he extended his senses. However, all he could sense was the feeling of the plane distancers.
“Damn it!” Skye snapped.
“What?” Ferral asked urgently.
“They are to our east. There must be two or three Ice Wizards, because I can't sense through the damned plane distancers” the magician exclaimed heatedly.
“Then let's head east” Ferral growled.
They crept to the east, hiding themselves in the sparse vegetation around. It was not enough though, the wizards would sense what they were up to, sooner or later.
“OVER THERE!” came a sudden bellow.
Skye and Ferral ducked as two ice dashes exploded right where they had been before. Skye leapt up and shielded his body with bonded link-magic, then walked towards where the icicle dashes had come from.
Two more ice bolts smashed against his shields, but he managed to hold them. Skye gasped in horror as the plane distancers stopped working and a squad of Ice Lancers, as well as two Ice Wizards came into view.
Skye started to draw the link-magic out of the weaker Ice Wizard, making sure to continue shielding his body as he did this. One stronger icicle bolt blasted into his shields, sending him backwards by a couple of Dexyl. Skye cursed and started drawing more link-magic out of the weaker Ice Wizard.
The stronger one flung another icicle bolt, except this time at Ferral who was advancing through the darkness. Ferral dived to the side, avoiding the icicle bolt, then started chanting the incantations to one of his cloud spells. Suddenly the weaker Ice Wizard broke out of Skye's bonds and flung another ice bolt at the magician. Skye rebounded the ice bolt into the advancing Ice Lancers, killing one of them and knocking another to the ground. The captain cursed Skye and then the lancers readied their ice lances and fired directly at Skye. Skye's shields almost broke and he lost his balance, losing the link-magic to the weaker Ice Wizard in the process.
Skye crawled away and then jumped up and used most of his energy to sustain his shields, then he again weakened the weaker Ice Wizards link-magic. The weaker Ice Wizard died, with a vengeful anger on his face, dissolving into ice and water onto the ground*. “Curse him! Now Kellek is dead” the stronger Ice Wizard screamed at the hapless Ice Lancer Captain. “We still have most a squad and you, Jerrat. He won't last long!” the captain sneered vindictively.
“Fool! He is stronger than he looks and he has another cursed friend with him” Jerrat snarled at the captain. Skye took this moment to draw energy from the captain. The captain fell to the ground and blacked out. Skye looked around at Ferral, who was still concentrating on his weather magic. Finally a thunder-storm rumbled overhead, while raindrops the size of rocks started to fall. After a moment, lightning started to flash in the sky. Ferral directed one of the lightning bolts at the Ice Lancers.
The forked lightning struck the lancers and exploded furiously upon contact with the rain soaked ground, while the Ice Wizard disappeared in the explosion of electricity.
Skye used the last of his energy to shield himself from the electricity, then blacked out on the ground. Ferral gulped and ran over to the fallen magician. “Skye!” Ferral yelled despairingly. Ferral got no answer, so he lifted the slender magician onto his shoulders and walked boldly through the rain, not looking back at the destruction.
Volume One: The Intertwining Light and Shadow
The Emperor and His Advisors:
Lozyl – Emperor of Kaladacia, also known as the Beloved or his Leniency, or Lenience.
Cheevyl – The Beloved's Empress, Titled her Beauty, for she is the most fair of all woman in Kaladacia.
Kerenyd – Lord-Advisor and High Councillor of the Political Council. Titled his Lordship formally, or to some, just Ser.
Skye – Originally from Argate, now Mage-Advisor. His formal title is Ser Mage, or his Mageship.
Ferral – Military-Advisor and Skye's best friend. Titled his Warness formally.
Wrelyt – Engineer-Advisor, his formal title is, Honoured Engineer.
Talanyt – Trade-Advisor, his formal title is Ser Trader, or Ser Factor.
Hylan – Navy-Advisor, his formal title is his Warness, or High Navy-General.
Kaladacian Lancers – High Command
Lancer Elite Corps
Skayl – Over-Marshal
Cynyl – Marshal
Rafyl – Under-Marshal
Mage-Lancers
Hylyr – Mage-Commander
Gerdamh – Over-commander
Gunnar – Commander-Captain
Engineer-Corp Lancers
Clayn – Over-Commander
Mrayt – Regiment Commander
Lyselle – Majer-Commander
Kaladacian Navy
Ollayt – Navy Over-Marshal
Myrata – Navy Commander-Admiral
Jeyral – High-Commander
Teran – High-Majer
Syvnyr – High-Captain.
Kaladacian Lancers – Low Command
Lancer Elites
Gityl – Tactical Commander
Clynnth – Force Commander
Yull – Regimental Commander I
Hynnah – Regimental Commander II
Lien – Force Majer
Tyrl – Captain
Drevyl - Captain
Mage-Lancers
Fledyl – Tactical Commander
Dayn - Logistics-Commander
Vyrt – Commander
Cabayt – Majer
Blynt – Sub-Majer
Aejyrt – Sub-Majer
Neylyt – Over-Captain
Ranylt – Captain
Engineer-Corp Lancers
Talynr – Commander
Valney – Sub-Commander
Dewyn - Majer
Cumaryn – Sub-Majer
Gryan – Sub-Majer
Kelvyn – Captain
Blynnh - Sub-Captain
Liege Lords
Bron – Lord Mykryl
Mylar – Lord Flevyr
Sylania – Lord Zygran
Tryht – Lord Camryn
Arelkyn – Lord-Councillor Lyndyn
Kahnla – Lord Heyl
Fanryn – Lord Nevyr
City of Traders (Sekynt) – Lord-Factor Jelaryn
Port of the Beloved (Jalme) – Lord-Mariner Petrev
Erylyn – Lord Neryl, also known as his Lordship or Neryl the Great.
Palace Guards
Elite Guard
Felryn – Over-Commander
Veiyt – Over-Majer
Tlieryn – Over-Captain
Places
Continents
Rynstad – Continent in the North-west regions of Corath.
Kern – Continent in the Equatorial regions of Corath.
Veyren – Land mass in the North-east regions of Corath.
North Polua – Continent on the Northern Pole.
South Syskemia – A Relatively large island on the Southern Pole.
Krystyd – Large island in South-west Corath.
Islands
Isle of Skrath – Small island in the Sea of Tranquility, in Kern.
Kylarh – Tiny island located within the Western Equatorial regions of Corath.
South Rynsta – A Very large island, situated south of the continent of Rynstad.
Wrelpn – The island on which the Ice Wizards make their home. Although Ice Wizards control ice bolts, the island of Wrelpn rarely ever has ice on it, except during winter. Situated in the Sea of Peril, and why it is named thus.
Cities
Koren – The principal city of Argate.
Fyodor – City of the Palace, principal city of Skart.
Idylyn – City of the Beloved, City of the Forest; the principal city in Kaladacia.
Kuartz – City of the Embassy and the principal city in Salendor.
Pronunciations
Places
Corath – Cor-wrath
Fyodor – Fi-yo-door
Wrelpn – W-rel-pin
Idylyn – I-del-lin
Rynstad – Rin-sta-ed
Rynsta – Rin-sta
Polua – Poh-loo-ah
Kuartz – Koo-ar-tiz
Alasia – A-lay-shah
Skrath – Ska-rath
Syskemia – Sisk-eem-ee-ah
Krystyd – Ka-ris-tid
Veyren – Vay-rin
Counquan – Co-in-kwahn
Arelkyn – Ah-rel-kin
Sylania – Si-lane-ee-ah
Sekynt – See-kint
Tryht - Trite
Erylyn - Air-ra-lin
Kahnla - Ka-na-lah
People and Cultures
Hai'Ynl – Hay-yin-all
Hai'Caval – Hay-ca-vall
Hylua – Hi-al-loo-ah
Luylt – Loo-y-alt
Jakyro'yah – Ja-keer-ro-yah
Hylyr – High-lie-ah
Gerdamh – Ger-dam (silent H)
Ryo'Alegal – Ree-oh-ah-lee-gahl
Ferral – Fer-rahl
Lozyl – Loh-ze-all
Cheevyl – Shee-vy-all
Vaynh – Vane (silent H)
Fyryd – Fy-a-rid
Jyien – Jy-en (silent I)
Tlieryn – Tee-lee-ah-rin
Jierans – Gee-er-rans
Kleryssa – Kler-ris-ah
Kerenyd – Ker-ren-ide
Xorl - Ex-orl
Altran – El-trin
Geltharis – Gel-far-is (long pronounced Arrr in far)
Talanyt – Tah-lah-nite
Keldyl – Kel-dee-all
Drawyt – Draw-it
Mythros - Mee-far-ohs
Part One: Tales of Kern Age 04 Yer 00-155
Chapter One: A rather expected journey to Counquan
A young magician stomped down the shadowy path, accentuated greatly by the bright, luminescent full moon. The young man wore a vicious look on his light face; his bushy eyebrows swallowing much of the malice contained in his dark, blue-flecked eyes.
The young man’s name was Skye. He was travelling the stone-tiled road of Koren, the capital city of Argate, empire of the Blessed Ones.
Skye had been sent from the city, since the elder magicians had decided that he was too much trouble to train. Skye had stormed out of the earlier meeting; the stubborn elder magicians had tested his short patience and he knew very well that he would not be allowed back until he had fulfilled their foolish expectations.
Skye stopped thinking and applied his mind back to the task ahead, as difficult as it seemed; however, Skye drew upon his comfort in his fairytale life of being solitary and relying on no other man.
Skye was the lone wolf; he would only ever trust one other man, his friend, actually best friend, Ferral, who by default Skye had to leave behind.
Speaking of the devil, not literally but figuratively speaking, that dratted swordsman approached behind him, at least he thought it was Ferral, judging by the footsteps of the heavy metal-soled boots*.
“Skye?” the dark figure asked him, “Ferral, is that you?” Skye queried warily. “Yes, it's me. Who else would you expect it to be?” Ferral replied, somewhat sharply.
“No matter. I'm glad to see you though, my friend” Skye then grabbed the other man in a fierce hug. Ferral groaned at the onslaught, then he returned the hug and almost crushed the more slight figure of the magician.
Skye gasped for breath and Ferral released him quickly.
“You great lump” Skye breathed heavily and then he grinned at the stolid swordsman. “I'm glad to see you too, Skye. I was worried when you didn't come back from that meeting. I take it they exiled you then?” Ferral asked with concern.
“Yes!” Skye growled angrily, “those frigging bastards don't even understand me, they just assume that I'm not trying hard enough to control my magic”.
“At least we're leaving. Where are we going to go?” Ferral asked him.
“Counquan. It's reasonably close and once we are there we can decide what we are going to do” Skye decided quickly. “Good plan my friend; how long will it take to get to Counquan?” Ferral wondered out loud. “By my estimate it should take no longer than a day to get there” the magician told his friend.
“Well okay then Skye” Ferral agreed cheerily and then they started walking. Skye extended his senses around the area. Then he relaxed; “I can't sense anything beyond two Centimes, so we should be safe for a while. I'll check again once we have left the area and make sure that there aren't any Krellon” Skye says to Ferral, reassuringly. They resumed walking on the nicely paved road until they came to the end of the path. Skye and Ferral were looking into the great beyond, stretching a thousand square Centimes across Argate. It would take them almost a day to cut through the dry, sparse land and then a couple more hours to cut through a tropical forest. Once they left the forest, they would be almost in Counquan. Skye kept walking, although he wished that they were in the tropical forest already. “It looks like it's going to rain” Ferral predicted.
As well as being proficient with a blade, Ferral was also a cloud elemental. He could sense rain, lightning, thunder, upsurges in wind, ice, snow, hail, humidity and even tell if a hurrikan, twister or ice-storm was coming. Ferral was already rather skilled in making the wind blow and changing the air currents to other places. He could even make a small storm if he was angry enough.
Skye was completely different; he couldn't even hold a decent blade, the cold iron gave him a headache. He could handle a staff though, and he could use the staff to channel magic. Skye was better at a different kind of magic. Skye could generally sense objects and organisms in the distance, either by the change in temperature or voice pattern, and footsteps.
Skye could read a person's face, but that didn't take magic. He would be able to tell if someone was lying, or wasn't telling the truth, by reading their facial expressions and nervous ticks. Skye had once tried to fool a professor at the University of Koren. Not that he had studied long there; the elder magicians had removed him rather quickly, though he had only spent a year at the university. The lecturer concerned was also a great Link-Mage. Skye had tried to make remove links from surrounding link-magic and the professor had sensed this. Because the lecturer was a Link-Mage he had felt the change in concentration of link-magic around them. Professor Slyayn had immediately become suspicious and hauled him in front of Director Hyolt. The director realised it had been a mishap and had sent the lecturer off. “If you try another trick like that young Skye, then you will be exiled for sure. Why did you do it?” he asked solemnly. Skye replied that he was trying to see if he could control link-magic himself. “Professor Slyayn is an accomplished Link-Mage, he can sense what you do and take the proper precautions” Director Hyolt said dryly. Skye simply nodded and looked sorry. The director had nodded and told him to behave himself better in the future.
Skye swore and looked up at the darkening clouds. “We better wait under this tree” Skye pointed at a gnarled tree, probably one of the few that actually survived in this wasteland.
Ferral nodded, “aye, it's a bit wet for my liking. Should we continue at dawn?” Ferral asked questioningly. “Yeah. We want to try and get to Counquan before dark” Skye replied. “Right. Let's get sheltered then” Ferral hurried over to the tree and settled underneath it.
Skye turned the tree into a hut and then opened the door and walked inside, leaving Ferral with an expression of wonder on his face. “How did you do that?!” Ferral asked him sharply, once they had both sat down. “Magic!” Skye chuckled foolishly. Ferral glared at him. “I mean what sort of magic?” Ferral grimaced. “Just the normal kind” Skye said aloofly. Ferral sighed and subsided. “I've never tried magic like that before” Skye admitted. “Really? I thought you had tried many kinds of magic...” Ferral wondered blandly. “Well... I have but that was based under a different principle. That was based on the Principle of Constructive Magic, where something is made out of thin air. But it has it's vices too; this kind of magic uses link-magic from other sources, and may affect other people too. If I made food appear in front of you right now, for example. This would effectively steal the link-magic from other peoples' food and someone may even die just to appease the magician, or Mage, that can't be bothered to make his own food!” Skye explicated.
“How would they die?” Ferral asked, sounding relatively interested. “Because when you steal link-magic from an organism, it would cease to exist, but in this case it would be from starvation. It's also a good way to kill someone quickly, just by stealing their own link-magic” Skye said cunningly. “Wow, there are certainly many ways to kill someone” Ferral gasped, he had only really begun to delve into his weather magic.
“Yeah. A lot of spells and different kinds of magic are deadly when used incorrectly*” Skye said knowingly. “You're telling me. I hardly know any magic at all. I'd hardly call fiddling with the weather true magic” Ferral snorted to himself. Skye chuckled to himself and then lay down on the wooden slats. “Hardly comfortable, but they will do” Skye said out loud.
“What are you talking about?” Ferral asked, “just the wooden slats my dear Ferral” Skye replied and then he fell asleep rather abruptly. Ferral lay awake for some time. He couldn't sleep and decided to check outside for any Krellon or other creatures.
He opened the door quietly and walked over to a rock in the middle of the ground. It was still raining and Ferral could sense that it was going to be raining for another glass, maybe even only half. He couldn't see any Krellon, so he went back to the hut. He lay back down on the wooden slats, careful not to wake Skye up. The magician tended to be grumpy when he was tired. Ferral fell into a light slumber.
After about two glasses, Ferral woke up again. He went back outside to check the weather. It was no longer raining and the sun was starting to rise. Ferral went back inside and woke Skye up. “It's time to go Skye. It's almost dawn and it's stopped raining. Skye woke and after a moment he got up and walked over to the small window, “ah. It looks like it's going to be a nice day” the magician mused quietly. “Breakfast?” Ferral asked with concern, as his stomach gave a loud rumble. “I suppose so. We can make grain porridge, it's quick and we don't actually have much other food” Skye told his friend. “Aye, it'll have to do.”
They quickly made the porridge and ate it almost twice as fast. Once they had finished they left the hut. Skye enchanted it back to a tree and then glanced at Ferral to see the expression on his face. Ferral stared back, trying not to blink or laugh. Skye laughed first, then Ferral started laughing as well. “Okay then, let's go” Skye said after the laughing fit had subsided.
They started walking once more, ready to get to Counquan as quick as they could. The great wasteland was sopping wet, with the rocks glistening with the moisture and the ground was so wet that it had almost turned completely to mud, or a clay-like substance. Ferral sent out a string of obscene words. “Lovely language my dear swordsman, where did you learn those words?” Skye asked cheekily.
“Shut up!” Ferral growled mock-ferociously. “That's not very nice” Skye pouted indignantly. “Well I was only kidding, you sop” Ferral stated teasingly. “Well I suppose that it's all right then. Hold on!” Skye stopped suddenly, evidently sensing danger of some sort. “What is it?” Ferral asked. “I can sense something, not exactly sure what though. It may be Krellon or it may a rogue Mage. But I'm sure that it or they could mean us harm” Skye decided quickly.
“Frag. Okay how far away are they?” Ferral asked desperately, hoping that they weren't too close. “They are at least two Centimes, but likely three away” Skye stated frankly.
“Can we avoid them?” Ferral asked.
“No. Whether they are Krellon or a Mage, they will be able to sense us. We may as well prepare for a fight and not hide” Skye sniffed.
“Ah I see. Well let us announce our exalted presences, so we may take them by surprise, rather them taking us by surprise” Ferral exclaimed, a little too jovially.
“Hmm, not a bad idea actually. They won't be expecting us to be expecting them, this may work yet” Skye agreed subtly.
They kept walking, if they stopped then the beings would sense that the two knew they were there. Once they had covered the first two Centimes, Skye advanced his senses towards the direction that the offenders had been.
“Ah I can't sense anything now, except I have the feeling that they may be covered with a plane distancer*” Skye shivered inwardly, he had a bad feeling about this.
“But only Ice Wizards use plane distancers, Skye. What should we do now?” Ferral snapped desperately.
“Summon a fire storm if you can my friend, that will make it a bit hot for them” Skye stated matter-of-factly.
“A fire storm?” Ferral asked questionably.
“Yeah” Skye muttered.
“I'm a cloud elemental you idiot” Ferral snapped impatiently.
“Look, we don't have time for this, let's just get it over and done with” the swordsman sighed, exasperated with Skye's eccentric behaviour.
“Okay then” came the impatient reply.
They marched into the distance, as quickly as possible. Skye thought he heard something slightly east to where they were, so he extended his senses. However, all he could sense was the feeling of the plane distancers.
“Damn it!” Skye snapped.
“What?” Ferral asked urgently.
“They are to our east. There must be two or three Ice Wizards, because I can't sense through the damned plane distancers” the magician exclaimed heatedly.
“Then let's head east” Ferral growled.
They crept to the east, hiding themselves in the sparse vegetation around. It was not enough though, the wizards would sense what they were up to, sooner or later.
“OVER THERE!” came a sudden bellow.
Skye and Ferral ducked as two ice dashes exploded right where they had been before. Skye leapt up and shielded his body with bonded link-magic, then walked towards where the icicle dashes had come from.
Two more ice bolts smashed against his shields, but he managed to hold them. Skye gasped in horror as the plane distancers stopped working and a squad of Ice Lancers, as well as two Ice Wizards came into view.
Skye started to draw the link-magic out of the weaker Ice Wizard, making sure to continue shielding his body as he did this. One stronger icicle bolt blasted into his shields, sending him backwards by a couple of Dexyl. Skye cursed and started drawing more link-magic out of the weaker Ice Wizard.
The stronger one flung another icicle bolt, except this time at Ferral who was advancing through the darkness. Ferral dived to the side, avoiding the icicle bolt, then started chanting the incantations to one of his cloud spells. Suddenly the weaker Ice Wizard broke out of Skye's bonds and flung another ice bolt at the magician. Skye rebounded the ice bolt into the advancing Ice Lancers, killing one of them and knocking another to the ground. The captain cursed Skye and then the lancers readied their ice lances and fired directly at Skye. Skye's shields almost broke and he lost his balance, losing the link-magic to the weaker Ice Wizard in the process.
Skye crawled away and then jumped up and used most of his energy to sustain his shields, then he again weakened the weaker Ice Wizards link-magic. The weaker Ice Wizard died, with a vengeful anger on his face, dissolving into ice and water onto the ground*. “Curse him! Now Kellek is dead” the stronger Ice Wizard screamed at the hapless Ice Lancer Captain. “We still have most a squad and you, Jerrat. He won't last long!” the captain sneered vindictively.
“Fool! He is stronger than he looks and he has another cursed friend with him” Jerrat snarled at the captain. Skye took this moment to draw energy from the captain. The captain fell to the ground and blacked out. Skye looked around at Ferral, who was still concentrating on his weather magic. Finally a thunder-storm rumbled overhead, while raindrops the size of rocks started to fall. After a moment, lightning started to flash in the sky. Ferral directed one of the lightning bolts at the Ice Lancers.
The forked lightning struck the lancers and exploded furiously upon contact with the rain soaked ground, while the Ice Wizard disappeared in the explosion of electricity.
Skye used the last of his energy to shield himself from the electricity, then blacked out on the ground. Ferral gulped and ran over to the fallen magician. “Skye!” Ferral yelled despairingly. Ferral got no answer, so he lifted the slender magician onto his shoulders and walked boldly through the rain, not looking back at the destruction.