Chapter Twenty Six - Reunion From Afar

*** Eleanor Cazador ***

“Edmond?” I asked looking at the bulky boy around my age, he was part of my tournament team. He was built as solid as the rocks he manipulates.

“We are clear,” he replied. “But, we are going to have to climb over this particular pile.”

“Aww,” Kane groaned. He is a wind mage so being so close to the earth as to crawl on it always makes him uncomfortable.

“Well I guess follow me,” I said ignoring Kane’s protest.

We were in charge of helping professor Dolan traverse the lower chambers, we had been going through some of the deeper paths since this morning. It was probably dusk by now considering how tired I felt.

My hair was aflame and lit the beacon for all to follow, my hair was not literally burning, it was elemental fire. Like pure magic fire. I don’t feel like explaining it but the point being is that I can light it on any part of me and not burn.

The passage we were in now had columns littering the way, to get past them I was forced to climb slowly over the very thick and wide columns. I can’t say for certain why they were down but suspiciously some of the breaks looked like cuts instead of tears.

The professor was last, he was a head taller than all of us but scrawny, but once we were beyond the pillar obstacles we entered a room with five distinctively colored doors. The chamber was massive, at least a hundred meters high and twice that wide or more.

I tried a few doors but none of them would budge.

The professor took a deep interest in all of the room so I let him do as he pleased as I went towards my two teammates and sat with them.

I sent several fire wisps into the room, they would light and move as the professor willed them.

We sat around a bright burning wisp as Edmond looked through the sack on his back and brought out some food packages. We were bored and said nothing as he started peeling the packages and started setting up our meals separating the professor’s meal as well.

“Isn’t today the day your lover boy is coming to the academy,” Kane asked after a while as if speaking of an afterthought.

For a second my wisps burned a little brighter startling the professor.

“Shut up Kane,” I gritted my teeth as my mana came back under control.

“It was just a question,” he said trying to act innocent, he was far from that.

“Kane…” Edmond admonished.

“Why won’t you date me hmm?” Kane asked again for the thousand time. He was not bad looking, he was from a noble house from Boraia, the motherland, but he was… “Your so called fiancé is constantly flitting about with his pretty elf and pretty much ignores you. I didn’t want to say it this way but since he is probably already here in the academy I want to say it now, I really wish you would think more about me and you. I like you…I like you a lot…”

“That…” I was about to say that it didn’t matter, but it did. I missed feeling important to someone, Leo had always treated me as his center until I found out he had someone else filling all the empty spaces in his heart. It hurt so much to think about him sometimes. “I’m sorry.”

I liked him, Kane was nice, as nice as Leo used to be…but…he wasn’t Leo. As much as I hate to admit it Leo is like no other, I like to pretend I am strong among those in the academy, which I really am, but everything I use is Leo’s magic. I also know that he hasn’t taught me all he knows. Even as powerful as Kane and Edmond are I can’t help but feel like they are just children. I am not saying that they are immature, but with Leo it was like talking with someone who could fix any problem, answer any question, and always knows what to do.

“If I best him would that give me a chance?” he asked.

“You can’t best him,” I replied, “I learned elemental fire from him and you don’t even know elemental wind.”

“Hey look at that,” Edmond pointing towards a cluster of fire wisps, I had set them to circle the room but they were currently all being drawn to one of the magic seals. Wisp after wisp flowed into the seal, with each wisp the seal glowed a little brighter, it reach a dull red color, like the color of heated iron, before “cooling down”.

*** Kane Wudan ***

“I can’t believe that even after all that the seal barely got brighter than a little red,” I said nodding my head as I remembered the scene. The professor had asked Eleanor to do it again, she used her fire breath directly on the seal at one point but it had not been enough. “Maybe when the seals were made having control over elemental magic was common and it requires more than one mage to activate it.”

“Too bad its rare for people to reach that level of mastery,” Edmond nodded. “That professor really wanted to see what that seal might do.”

We had left the professor at the entrance of the lower chambers, the passage back was marked and safe.

“It’s probably for the best,” Eleanor sighed. “I have seen some real complex seals before but those were on a whole other level, whatever they do involves a whole lot of complex magic.”

“To think we can still find more passage ways in there,” Edmond said referring to the underground temple. The temple was massive, it was almost really just an underground city labyrinth. Aside from the ever famous library there are dozens of small pocket towns down there, most of which have been repurposed for residential use, dormitories and such.

We emerged from the temple depths into the above ground where a city was slowly taking shape with the entrance at its center. The entrance is not all that grand, its just a simple pagoda like temple with stairs leading down. The entrance was once barricaded with a powerful iron door which had been removed and the temple entrance restored after it was basically ripped from its spot on the ground.

A Flying Castle was visible in the not far off distance.

“Look,” I pointed towards it. “That must mean your lover boy is here.”

Edmond shook his head while Eleanor glared at me, ah! So beautiful even when angry!

Fortunately, or unfortunately for Eleanor, our path was going to take us close to the docks so that he could turn in our request letter marked with the sigil of the professor to indicate the completion of our task.

After a few minutes of walking we reached the Task Office and found the way blocked by the ever ruckus Amazon twins, or well at least the younger of the two was being obnoxious as always.

The younger of the two, Sora, was holding the arm of a young desert elf, the twins were fourteen and the elf girl looked no more than ten at the most. Sola, the oldest, was trying to calm her sister as always.

“Who does the girl think she is?” Sora asked visibly tightening her grip on the younger girl’s arm.

In the blink of an eye, so fast that the human eye could not follow, there was a boy suddenly standing behind her. He was wearing black clothing and carrying a plate of food. He struck both of the girl’s knees in extremely quick succession that it appeared almost like a single strike, it caused her to kneel. The boy then brought his free hand around and clamped it tightly around the girl’s throat.

Sora released the younger girl as she began to choke.

The elf girl was obviously frightened but appeared a little more relaxed now that the boy had the girl by the throat. With a motion from his eyes he commanded the elf to come around behind him. After she did so he released Sora, Sola who had been shocked by the events finally moved to catch her sister.

“I am Sora * cough* ,” the girl wheezed as she turned to look, with bloody murder in her eyes, at her attacker. “Princess to the amazons! *cough* *cough* How…how dare you!”

The younger boy took one step forward and slapped the girl across the face. The movement was so fast that neither sister could intercept it, much less see it coming.

“Be thankful I don’t kill you,” the boy admonished, his voice caused chills to run down my back. “I am Leo Cazador, prince and future king of Boraia. Tread lightly child, lest I turn to feel the need to cast my wrath upon you.”

My eyes bulged at his declaration. So this! This was lover boy!

I regained myself quickly, closing my mouth that had been wide open in shock, as I turned to analyze Eleanor’s reaction. She stared at him intently, her hands were trembling, her eyes…her eyes confirmed what I didn’t want to believe.

“Come on,” She said motioning for us to head around, they were not directly blocking our way into the Task Office, they had been only blocking our usual path. Her voice came out as a whisper as if she did not want the boy to hear her, to find her. If she was avoiding him so much, why couldn’t she let him go? I would treat her better, this I knew.