—

  Eight spells and they were all modified to perform with three affinities out of seven. and if his calculations were right about the Three affinities represented in the spell book. it meant Ivor lucked ways to defend against the other four types of magic, and all the four the man was lacking Marcus had them in greater abundance. now Marcus understood why looking in ones grimoire showed their weaknesses.

  Marcus looked up at Ivor and he slightly used his Arcane sight, and he got that wrong feeling. Pity, may be. it was that feeling you got when you cheated a man, when you knew you were getting away with something you shouldn't have. and as he used his mage sight, around the goliath there were three affinities. the same ones that were associated with the spells in the old man’s grimoire. he looked up at the man and saw the red of bloodline magic, the white of light magic and the blues of the elemental affinity. Marcus know understood why the half goliath half aasimar hated truth seers.

  ‘So Ivor has three affinities.’ he thought. 'This is far more complicated than i imagined. I don't think our trade was fair.'

  Knowing that, all he had to find out now was how much affinity weight he was looking at. Sure he could tell that the large half Goliath had three affinities. but were they lesser affinities or did they range some where in the middle between zero and nine. what were the exact numbers, this was something that he would have to study and find out the exact numbers behind the colours his arcane sight gave him.

  As Ivor had said he had to know the capabilities of his opponents before he picked a fight.

  And Ivor.

  Ivor watched as the boy begun to understand the implications of looking into one’s grimoire. He watched the boy open his mouth then close it.

  “Have you found a spell you can use?”

  “Unbreakable Skin, I think it will help me against someone who fights like an assassin.”

  “A good choice but you are fighting a Goliath, he is stronger and much heavier than you," he watched as the boy came to a realization." if he believes he is stronger than you he will not kill you from the shadows, the other veystrix will think him a coward." he watched Marcus nod and he continued" i can assure you, he will challenge you openly.

  Marcus flipped through the book then. looking for a spell that would take into consideration what Ivor had said.

  “You should choose the Iron Bones spell. Any other spell and you wouldn't be able to keep up if he can just lift you when he pleases."

  ‘So it’s like weight class difference . If I can take away that advantage then I can understand what Ivor is saying.’ He looked up from the spell to what Ivor was saying.

  “You will spend the next week training this spell when to use it and how to use it , you will train with the dagger as well.”

  After the conversation with Ivor the old man had him seating and studying the spell for the rest of the day.

  ———

  The arcane affinity was what some would call a utility magic, it was for crafters and builders. And to those who took the time to study it, It was a pure energy that helped link all the other forms of aether.

  The crafters, masons and jewellers who used this form of magic, called it a gift of the River and Sun. and the warriors and magicians thought of it as a good addition if nothing else. It was the scholars aether much to the disappointment of warriors who would need to study to use it efficiently. and for mages it was simply a weaker incomplete version of psychic aether, whatever arcane magic could do. psychic magic could do as well and needed less effort.

  For the brats in the magical academy, it was a form of aether they took for granted. but for those masters like the necromancer, it was the true understanding of the arcane that gave them the edge to stand as one of the strongest in the mountains.

  It was well known among the powerful. give an arcane magician time and they could be the worst opponent you faced. For that was the nature of the aether capable of holding together others or disrupting them.

  From the rumors he had come across and things he had seen as a knight guard of the great houses. arcane magicians always fought with trinkets, wands and babbles which made them tricky opponents.

  One did not simply throw spells at a good arcane magician just as one did not simply hex a dark magician. in both cases it was ill advised, for an arcane mage with an elemental affinity often had a counter to most elemental spells. And dark mages often hexed themselves to make the process of applying another hex that much difficult or unsustainable.

  So it came as a surprise to him when during one of their spars the boy tried to create a spell with out regarding the runes he was attempting to use. it was an impressive feat by all accounts and it meant that Marcus held the runic letters separately in his mind allowing them to last for weeks without fading.

  Marcus launched himself forward aiming to strike at Ivor.

  The older man weaved to the side, pushed the boy's strike away from his torso, pushed him back by lightly punching the boys shoulder, and moved in one seamless motion entering Marcus's blind spot.

  “If you feel eyes on you, trust it,” Ivor warned. “Your instincts will sense a killer before your eyes do.” Marcus whirled around pushing Ivor’s strike to the side and countering with a punch.

  “A Goliath can take a punch,” Ivor admitted. “But no one shrugs off steel. A dagger to the liver will drop even the toughest fighter.”

  Marcus nodded and they paused.

  Ivor let him catch his break. he wanted to teach him how to use his magic like a Warcrafter next , something that took months for one to master. but sadly it was time they didn’t have.

  Ivor raised a hand a small runic circle appearing before his hand as he conjured a small bolt of fire between his fingers. “A simple spell should be second nature, like drawing a blade.”

  Marcus thought of the runic spell formation of the [Iron bones] spell he had been studying for days now and started channeling his aether through it. once he felt all the runic sentences that encircled the core were filled his body started feeling heavy.

  He took a step forward struggling at first at the unfamiliar weight of his body and when he swung his arms he felt lazy and sluggish.

  “Don’t force it,” Ivor advised. “The spell should flow with your intent. Think of it as a reflex, not as something you can plan for.”

  It took a few more attacks for Marcus to understand, on reflex he moved to block and with the spell he had been casting for hours now on his finger tips. he blocked the strike from Ivor, his body becoming heavy as he successfully deflected the blow.

  “Good,” the old man said with a sense of pride in his voice.

  “Good, ”Marcus said panting for breath with his hands still raised and his gaze focused on his the old man.

  Ivor made to send a probing strike next but he paused. the boy was starting to cast something else, a different spell and one he was sure he did not recognise from his grimoire. it started out well and he raised his eyebrows then he frowned.

  Ivor could not sense the arcane aether in the air shifting but for the elemental aether. that Ivor could feel. it started vibrating. pushing and pulling itself towards Marcus. it looked for a secondary spell core but found none in the formation. Ivor could feel it from were he stood, the elemental aether screamed at him. And he knew.

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  He knew this was wrong. what ever, Marcus was doing. it was wrong.

  ‘Perhaps I should have told him not to tamper with unknown spell formations,’ the thought came to him in that brief moment.

  ---

  Marcus had been trying to create his own spells for a month now. checking patterns and matching them.

  To Surprise Ivor with the spell in one of their spars, he had kept memorizing it for days now, redrawing it on the walls in his makeshift lab.

  He memorized the arcane core and the elemental runic patterns to put together for the spell. it was the same spell that he had demonstrated for Gabe only this time he would activate it for a short time.

  Marcus pushed arcane aether into the arcane core then he started feeling the elemental runes with the arcane. and before e could push any more of his soul's aether into the formation, Marcus suddenly felt The spell being wrenched out of his control leaving him with a splitting headache.

  ---

  Seeing what Marcus was doing Ivor reached his hand out for the spell. what the old warrior was about to do was often an ill advised choice. if you didn’t know your opponent well the method could never work. he hesitated. waited for a brief moment but for all the magic surrounding the boy and his spell Ivor did not sense any elemental aether making its way into the spell.

  Ivor filled the spell formation the boy was casting with his own elemental aether. Since the spell was using the elemental affinity he could reach out and take control of it, and when he did he caused the spell to break apart.

  The lash back was felt both ways and although the half Goliath warrior didn’t seem bothered or fazed. Marcus fell to his knees bleeding from his nose.

  Marcus was not so gently raised to his feet and met the angry pale face of Ivor, “ What were you thinking?! There is a reason people go to the mage academy to perform spells."

  “I created a new spell..., I wanted to try it out,” Marcus coughed, wincing at his suddenly weakened body.

  The only reason the spell hadn’t killed the boy was because he had used arcane magic and along with that he had a lot more magic to hold and stabilize the spell. Ivor suspected if the boy did this with a lower magical presence, a bloody nose and splitting headache wouldn't have been all he had to worry about. the boy had to have so much aether in his soul to only suffer just a minor effect and still be able to get to his feet.

  “You cannot do that. you do not know anything about spell layers,” he sighed massaging his forehead. The last statement meant more for his sake.

  “What did I do wrong? The spell was supposed to work.” Marcus said.

  “The spell form was wrong. The layers were wrong. you did it wrong." the golden eyed goliath sighed, "for now focus on spells you know.”

  ...

  ...

  By River and Sun arcane magicians were all the same, he watched the boy pick himself up and all he could think of was how the boy had done it, Marcus had created a spell. And by all means it wasn’t perfect and he didn’t understand what it was meant to do, but the boy had the mind of a scholar. another thing that those gifted by the arcane aether shared.

  He remembered the arcane enchanting kit he had in his chest back in the cabin and remembered what Clara and Marcus had gotten themselves into…

  If they didn’t…

  ‘ I will follow the boy. He cannot die.’

  “I have seen men like you,” Ivor spoke out loud not looking back as he head to his cabin, “think they can do it all by themselves... it often gets them killed.” he warned.

  ——

  A week and two days, that was how long was left for Marcus and the group. Could he have left the group. Yes. but he was not that kind of person who saw someone in need and ignored them, especially if they had helped him as well. he just couldn’t just leave them.

  He remembered the first time he had opened his eyes in the Ashfeilds, cold and alone. He remembered going to sleep and waking up to the cold biting winds. But it was the magic that intrigued him. after his two year diploma in information technology, the spell formations did nothing but fascinate him, they spoke to him, and challenged him. and all he wanted to know was could he figure this all out, and could it have been the reason he had been brought here.

  It was a week left before Thornan had said he would come, and Marcus was beginning to understand what it was like to live in the slums of Srok where those with strength used it to get their way. and the weakest were found dead by sunrise, their bodies thrown over the walls. To survive in Srok he had to be stronger than most and if he wanted to survive in this world it was often the case that he needed to be the strongest. this came to a pause when he remembered what Ivor had told him after the failed spell.

  The old man had told him that there were six layers to every spell and for every affinity there were different runes that cause the aether to act in different ways. it was a way of communicating with the different forms of aether allowing magicians to cast their grand spells and warcrafters fight the way they did.

  This meant that every enchantment they found on equipment had a unique spell. And if the he looked at the spell formation of the arcane push spell, there was a single sentence. a rule. a command written using arcane runes. then on the ring with the bloodline enchantment, the sentence description for strength written in Bloodline runes was completely different from any other affinity runes. if he mixed the runic letters from them both without the joining universal runes that allowed both bloodline and arcane aether then the whole spell would blow up in his face. something he did not want happening again.

  Moreover, now that he knew what he was looking for, the geometric looking circles that resembled a DaVinci diagram were set up in layers, six on the inside and three arcane runic circles on the outside.

  Clara walked into his makeshift lab and closed the door behind her causing Marcus to look up at her.

  “Can we win?. “

  'Can we win?' that was the question that been bothering him, it made his heart beat faster. it was the sort of fear that brought worry with it. the sort of fear you got when you froze in fear for that moment in life. if he was to die tomorrow here he knew no one would care, no one would care for him or the others. No, they had to take things in their own hands. And if someone was threatening them then they would do everything to protect themselves.

  “Marcus Can we do it?” she asked again hiding her frustration.

  Marcus was afraid but turned to her this time with steely eyes and nodded. he couldn’t say for certain that they could, even he wasn’t sure. for all he knew Thornan could kill them all as they slept.

  The door opened and Gabe let himself into the room. he looked at the two uncertainly as he walked closer.

  There was a worried look on his face that Marcus and Clara did not miss as he came up to them.

  “Clara, everyone is worried about Thornan. I think we should…”

  “We should do what,” she asked with a snarl mixed in with her question.

  “I think if we give him the gold he will leave us alone."

  Marcus pinched his nose, “if we give him what he wants. He will just ask for more and more until he asks for something we can’t give him.”

  “Gabe, remember what our plan was, we can't give up now,” she said .

  “But we can’t win, we can't all fight.”

  “I can fight. Marcus will fight. am not asking you to do anything”

  “You’re asking us to put our lives in your hands. Thornan is a Veystrix and a Goliath.”

  “And I am not giving him everything we have worked for all this time,” she said stubbornly.

  “But his dangerous. rumors are that he just killed a Baron’s son.”

  “So give up, is that it,” she asked and Gabe could not meet her eyes.

  “Gabe, you don’t understand, we can’t give up. people like him will keep coming, and we will be giving him everything we are working for. you want to start a noble house but how can we even do that if he keeps coming for any good thing we get our hands on,” Marcus said.

  “Marcus, what I am saying is better than fighting him.”

  “We can’t give up Gabe. not now,” he looked at the smaller boy, “how about when we where begging on the streets, we can’t keep doing that. I can’t,” Marcus said feeling the anger raise as he fixed Gabe with an icy stare, “I almost lost an eye. never again.”

  “And is that why you are doing this, for vengeance?”

  “No.”

  “Why are you here then? you could have left? Why are you fighting?”

  “I couldn’t leave you guys," he said, "you saved my life.”

  “That’s foolish,” Gabe said.

  “No, it’s not.” Clara said her words coming bit too harshly and loudly.

  “We are just children we…”

  “That's why we can't, Thornan is planning to sell the girls to the brothels,” Marcus said.

  “Even so we can just break you out," he gestured pleadingly to himself, “me, Marcus and the boys can save you and the girls,” he tried to explain only to receive a look of disappointment, anger and disgust from Clara.

  “Gabe, remember what they did to my mother. Remember what they did to my mother,” she said, moving over to the small boy and placing a hand on his shoulder.

  Gabe realized it then. Clara did not want her fate in anyone else’s hands. more than that, she never wanted to be under anyone’s control again.

  “I am doing this for all of us. for everyone,” Clara said.

  “I …. I can’t, I am leaving.”

  “What is that supposed to mean,” she stepped back judging him.

  “Am leaving….”

  A loud sniff that came from someone suspiciously crying suddenly cut through the quiet room. someone was crying and it turned out their conversation was being overheard, and the sobbing sounds just kept coming from behind the door.

  “Ethne, is that you,” Clara asked.

  Geneve opened the door and pushed her head in. looking around and seeing everyone in the room was looking at her, Geneve held her gaze down, moved through the door all the while she held and comforted Ethne by her side who couldn’t help but sob in her rags. Ethne seeing she was out in the open could no longer hold back her tears.

  This whole situation was beginning to give him a headache so she called out. “Zek! Linus! Nel!”

  A second later everyone was standing in the makeshift Lab, and all their faces told everyone else how they felt.

  Ethne was sad because everyone was yelling.

  Zek because he was weak and unable to help the group even if he was Goliath and the biggest among them.

  Linus and Nel because they felt like they hadn’t done enough.

  And Geneve, she felt as useless as ever.

  And as these things went. the three did not talk after that again.

  ———

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