Chapter 16

Selmar’s remaining energy flared up as he prepared to fight the stranger. “Use that to close the wound if you can, she’s loosing too much blood.” the woman spoke, as she removed some of Selena’s shirt to reduce the bleeding. Selmar recovered from his shocked state and rushed to Selena, power gathering in his hand as he let his staff fall to the ground. “Reign, oh light of thunder.” he whispered as he touched his friend’s shoulder, closing and burning the wound with controlled lightning. The stranger still keeping Selena’s screams as silent as possible “We need to get inside, the corrupted move more freely in the night. And a storm is coming.” The woman said. He didn’t question the stranger as he motioned to the house behind them and she only nodded, scanning their surroundings before following him.

They moved to the upper floor of the building and laid Selena down. “Will the cold be a problem for you?” Selmar nodded, surprised by the question. The woman whirled her halberd and cut off precise parts of the trees in the room, ranging from smaller to bigger pieces. She then piled the smaller pieces in front of them “Any way to make fire? I left my flint at home.” he looked at her “Won’t they see or feel the fire?” the woman shook her head “The corrupted feel magic and have exceptional hearing. Their sight does not work and the sound of this fire will be drowned out by the storm.” Selmar nodded as he created sparks that immediately lit up the wood in front of him.

Green eyes and black hair shined in the new source of light as he looked at the woman in front of him. She was young, barely twenty he reasoned. Her body feminine yet well trained and all of her movements controlled and with reason. Selmar didn’t know if he could kill the person in front of him, he only felt a small trace of magic from her but something told him there was much more to her than it seemed. “Who are you?” he managed to ask “My name is Eleonora.” she said. He nodded, ignoring her leaving out a last name “Pleased to meet you Eleonora. Thank you for saving my friend. My name is Selmar.” The woman smirked “Oh I know who you are...Selmar...” she descended into a poorly executed curtsy “Welcome to Isindur, Selmar Ilias, king of Dunewatch.”

Eleonora watched the king’s reaction as she revealed her knowledge of him. She wouldn’t have been so open were it not for the debt he already owed her. ‘I won’t show him my magic for as long as I can though, for that I need more trust.’ she looked at the woman that lay next to king Ilias ‘The captain of the royal guard...Selena Moor...they’re weaker than I expected..but then again how strong exactly am I?’ she thought as she looked at her halberd ‘Maybe they were tired out too or were hiding parts of their power because it would attract more corrupted...’ she couldn’t be sure. Eleonora had seen the king and the captain several times when she was younger as they attended parades, ceremonies and of course the tournament.

“The expedition left over three years ago...what happened?” he had already introduced himself with his first name and she wouldn’t let the opportunity slide to address a king so casually. Selmar didn’t seem to mind much either as he sighed and sat down with his back to the wall. “It was a long journey. We found blood and ice….we lost….many.” he kept his questions to himself for now, the woman couldn’t imagine what she had done for him when saving Selena. “After a year or so we found a flag...the flag of Usir. And then we searched. Another year passed before we found the first outskirts of the old empire...and it’s inhabitants.” she nodded. “How many are left?” she looked at Selena “Only you two?”

He shook his head “Twenty five in total remaining. Most of them my loyal king’s guard. Plus the Rising Moon.” she had heard the name before. A band of renowned adventurers, awarded with red tags from the guild. “Where are they now?” she asked, not yet sure how she would handle the other twenty three. Although having the king on her side already should sway them easily. ‘And I really missed talking...’ she realized as a hole inside her was filled by the words she exchanged with the lost king of her old city.

“They’re still in the city below. Alice, an ice mage of the Rising Moon, is bringing them up in twos. We couldn’t ascend the stairs so we had to climb. And she’s the only one with whom we can do it undetected.” Elly didn’t know about the stairs yet as she only left Isindur’s core two days ago. ‘There can’t be that many corrupted though, at most a couple hundred...with how few I encountered outside the main city.’ it would only take her a day to kill that many corrupted at her current strength, she of course didn’t mention any of this to the king.

“They know where you are?” she asked and Selmar only nodded. She got some meat from one of the pockets on her pants and nearly ate it raw before remembering how that would look to someone else. She got up and held the meat over the fire with her halberd, letting it roast. It wasn’t much but she didn’t need a lot anyway, not since she found her power, her body seemingly becoming more and more efficient day by day.

They stayed silent for a while before she began eating the piece of meat. She offered some to the king who refused, motioning to his pack. “We have enough ourselves.” they had hunted frequently when still outside the empire’s territory. Even inside there were some animals and beasts, although less than before. Food wasn’t a problem for a group of awakened at their level, not even so far north.

“With you saving Selena I have no right to ask but care to tell me your story?” he asked casually, as he too removed some meat from his pack. She stayed silent ‘Here it comes, my ticket back into the empire.’ she thought. Eleonora had no intention of leaving her task here undone but if it got done she didn’t want to stay in the north any longer. She wanted to travel the world and most of all go back to good food, warm blankets and the green of a living forest. “You mention the caption again. Do you consider this gesture such an immense debt? I’m sure your companions saved you and her countless times since the expedition started.”

The king smiled at her “They have, and we saved them. None of it will ever be forgotten and I owe them as much as they owe me. You on the other hand are a stranger and had no obligation to interfere.” his smile grew wider as he understood “Tell me what you want Eleonora and I will do my best to grant your wish, be it within reason.”

She couldn’t help but grin back at him, enjoying both her ticket to a future without hunters in her back and the conversation itself. “You see…the reason I came north. There is a bounty on my head...well they want me alive. At least back when I fled.” the king chuckled “What was the offense? You understand that some crimes can’t even be forgiven by a king...the empire’s laws are absolute.” Eleonora wasn’t sure yet of how much she should tell him ‘Once we’re back he will hear the reports of my magic and what had happened at my mother’s store.’ she knew that this was likely the only time in the near future where she’d be able to talk to the king alone, his debt still fresh on his mind.

It was a gamble of course and perhaps telling him the truth later on was safer but Eleonora felt it was alright to tell him. ‘Something about him...’ she thought. “You are blessed by thunder. How did that come to be?” she asked him and he answered, not thinking the question weird in the slightest “I’m not sure to be honest. I was always a bit of a free spirit, enjoying fighting and exploring more than ruling. This expedition speaks for that.” he chuckled and then sighed “I awakened when I was eleven years old fighting a bear that threatened to attack a friend of mine. Lightning filled me and I unleashed it.” she listened carefully.

“Do you believe the kind of power we get is an indication of who we are?” she asked and he thought about the question as he looked towards the ceiling. “A question for a philosopher, or a scholar of magic. I am neither of those. To me the awakening gives us power, a tool to use. Even if some character traits might be relevant in the kind of power we attain I do not think it decisive of a person’s core being.”

Eleonora took his answer in before speaking “And you claim to be no philosopher?” he chuckled again at this and then looked at her with stern eyes “Now tell me girl, what power do you possess that would scare you so much to talk about it?” They stared silently at each other for several minutes, neither of them braking eye contact. A red wisp crackled in the air as a very small amount of her magic left her body. The king’s eyes widened before he started laughing, still trying to stay calm. “Interesting.” she was perplexed by his reaction “Bloodmagic then. Very interesting...I can’t even feel anything and you don’t seem aggressive or crazy.” he murmured too quiet for her to hear and then looked at her.

“I’m gonna tell you some things now of which I do not know you are aware.” she nodded in response, sitting down close to the fire, her green eyes fixed on his blue ones. “You know that Bloodmages are raging aggressive murderers, controlled by their power and only wanting to kill?” she nodded “Obviously, I mean just look at me” she gestured at herself and tried to look as innocent as possible. The king stayed serious “Yes, and to every rule there are exceptions. I don’t know about the details but as far as I was told once most Bloodmages awaken through a sacrifice of life...not their own that is. And they crave to gain more and more power through any means necessary.” she kept listening as the fire crackled in the room “Have you heard about the different properties of magic?”

She nodded “Someone I know is an earth mage and he told me the deeper he is underground and the more earth there is around him the stronger his power gets.” Selmar nodded “The second property is something every magic possesses, the more of their element is around it the stronger it gets. The first one is the specific property, the one you’re looking for. Earth meants the deeper the stronger, healing means the calmer the stronger. The specific properties aren’t known to many and the ones who know mostly only know about their own magic. A healer will naturally realize that the calmer he is the more efficient his magic gets but he will likely account this to a clearer mind while the earth mage will account his increased power to the more available earth around him once he’s deep inside a cave. You see how it works?”

She nodded “So it’s basically part of the magic’s nature but it literally increases its power. I’m assuming you’re getting somewhere with my Bloodmagic?” he chuckled again “You’re a clever one, yes. As I mentioned Bloodmages are more often than not murderers and dangerous to civilized life. The reason for this is the property of their magic. They of course are stronger the more blood is around them but more importantly for every living thing they kill they get permanently stronger.”

Eleonora was shocked. ‘This explains everything...the reason Bloodmages are hated so much, the easiest victims are innocent non awakened people or animals, the more the better. Who would go out of their way to fight beasts out in the wild when they can increase their power by simply killing cows, horses or people?’ she looked at her hands ‘And the power I’ve gained...’ she grinned at the thought “Does it matter what we kill?” the king nodded “Yes, I do not know about the specifics though, never delved into the topic and most of the information is sealed...even to me.”

“Although I’ve met a peculiar Bloodmage before. He claimed to have gained his power through killing monsters. The village he was from revered him, the people there told me he was their protector. I killed every Bloodmage I encountered before on sight, all of them except him attacked me before I would’ve been able to talk to them anyway. And now you...” he looked at her intently before continuing “So I’m assuming your bounty has something to do with that magic of yours?” Eleonora told him about her awakening, leaving out the shadow and what he had said, only mentioning the fire and her inability to leave the house.

“Naturally awakened then…fascinating. Did you learn anything about Bloodmagic before awakening?. I’d like to think your mother wasn’t one, the thought of a Bloodmage living inside my city undetected….oh I’m sorry for your loss, forgive my comment.” She waved him off “Glad she’s gone.” he nodded, not prying further. “The plant you mentioned, the blood and fire around you and perhaps parts of your character and past experiences must’ve triggered the awakening.” she nodded, not mentioning her grandmother’s notes. “Considering you likely didn’t know about the magic’s nature and fled immediately after awakening it’s unlikely that you killed many innocents. You must be aware that I can’t trust you quite yet but I definitely don’t believe you’re a mass murderer.”