"Then I want you to come with me and become my disciple." Looking at him I said,
"What's the use? I'll stay here and be a farmer. Im nothing but a simple farmer, who only knows how to push a plow." The mage smiled at me. It was strange, almost pitying look wich was filled with determination.
"I refuse your refusal. You will come with me and be my student. I won't take no for an answer." Looking at him strangy, I turned my back on him and said,
"My answers no. I can't afford to-" and then I felt my body go airborne. I was so suprised only a small yelp left from my lips as I began falling. But instead of hitting the hard earth I folded over the man's arm out streached arm. It felt like i'd hit an iron pole. Letting out a grunt I tried to move but another hand reacher over and grabbed the back of my shirt. I heard the man say,
"Well if you won't do it by choice i'll force you." And then his hand hit the side of my neck and I fell into darkness.
I came awake with a pain in my neck and black spots in my vision. When my eyes cleared and I found myself staring up at a ceiling. My hands and feet were bound together by a thick rope. Squirming I heard a voice to my left and turned to see the crazy man who had kidnapped me, sitting next to a small fireplace. Looking at me he smiled and said,
"Just sit there quietly. After I finish making breakfast well start your training. My eyes widened and I said,
"I don't want to train. I need to get back to the farm." The man raised an eyebrow and said,
"Is there something there for you. After I knocked you unconscious an ugly man came out yelling at me. I bought you from him for a 30 silvers." My eyes widened in disbaleif and I said,
"You bought me." He nodded na dsaid,
"Yes and for surprisingly cheap to." Thinking about my Uncle and his personality I said
"Im not supprised." But then A thought hit me and I said
"I don't want to train." He grinned and said,
"If you want to leave alll you have to do is to pass through this forest, filled with monsters and such." I froze and said,
"Were-were not in the Devils Trap forest are we?!" he smiled and nodded. My eyes widened in fear. The Devils trap forest was a huge forest in the middle of the island which was my home. It was home to some of the most dangerous monsters in the forest. I was speechless. The wiry man said in his weird accent,
"Oh, my name is Sage, Sage Torel but you may call me master Torel." I glared at him and said,
"I don't wanna be your student or whatever." Sage grinned and changed the topic,
"Yesterday you said that you can actually heal. I wonder why. Maybe it has to do with yo being Male." he made a humming voice and with a wave of his hand I was freed from he ropes and he said,
"Hand."There was no room to rebuke him even If I wanted to. I gave him my hand and he held it for just a amoamnet. Letting go he frowned and tapped his chin a few times, thinking, befor saying
"Your very unique. Your a male healer and therefore you have strong yang energy while every other healer is made up of mostly Yin Energy." I raised an eyebrow and said curiously,
"Yin? Yang?"
"Oh yes, I forgot that your people don't have this concept. Everything in this world has a balance between dark and light, male and female. It is balanced differently in every person but genraly Women have more Yin energy and men have more Yang energy. You have unusually strong Yang energy, even for a man. I believe that normal healers, who are female, only Yin energy. But since your a guy what I am about to do something a bit risky." I raised an eyebrow and asked,
"What do you mean?" With a troubled look he said
'I'm going to remove all of your Yin energy and place a seal on your body to prevent it from ever entering your body ever again." I blinked and asked,
"How...how will this affect me." he nodded seriously and said,
"Well you'll... um how do you say in this language...not have marriage with other person." I blinked and asked,
"Why can't i get married." He waved his hand and said,
"Um...female would die due to the imbalance in your body, unless they were pure Yin energy to counteract your Yang energy it would be there own doom." I blinked and gazed at him and said,
"So if I ever wanted to be with a woman I would kill them?" He nodded and said,
"Yes but in exchange of this small price you would be able to heal any type of wound on your own or another person's body. It's your choice though. You can take your chances in the forest with no magic and being so weak or you can stay here and learn how to fight and use your magic. Your choice." He shrugged at the last part in a"it doesn't matter to me" gesture. Looking at him I thought for a while. I could be weak and useless and live the rest of my life as a farmer but if I gave up women I could live with magic and he said id learn to fight. Be weak or to be strong. Smiling I looked up at sage and said,
"The answer is obvious, I don't want to die. Take it, take it all. I hate the pain of my injuries. I dont want to be injured" He smiled evilly and said,
"Alright well prep the seal and then take the yin energy form you and activate the seal the moment it's done." I nodded and he pulled a box that I hadn't noticed earlier. Openeign it he pulled out a brush and a small clay pot. Motioning to me he asked,
"Where do you want the seal. It will be very big." Pointing to my arm I said,
"My shoulder." he nodded na dsaid,
"I'll be using your arm and your shoulder will be the head of the seal. Take of your shirt." I obayed wordlessly. Pointing at the floor he said,
"Sit cross legged and stretch your arm out and rest your hand on the table." I nodded and did as he asked. I watched as he drew long complicated lines across my arm that came together into the shape of a dragon wrapping around my arm. I couldn't see what he was drawing on my shoulder but I was in awe at the "ink" he was using. It was black and seems to flash gold at different angles. Smiling he said,
"All I you have to do is activate it with a drop of blood. Now I'm going to start removing your Yin energy." I nodded and sat patiently. It felt like someone was pulling my strength from my body. It didn't really hurt but it just felt funny. Sage said in a dead serious voice,
"This next part will hurt alright. I'm going to purge your body of the other energy so you have to be patient with me." I nodded and then it all I knew was pain. It felt like something was trying to tear apart my flesh and exit threw my back. It was horrible, like a giant worm devouring its way thru by body. I let out a scream at the pain and behind me sage said,
"It's almost over, stay still." I managed to stay still but I was still letting out pain filled songs. Sage was panting and said,
"Blood to seal...NOW!" I understood threw my haze of pain and bt my thumb and wiped it over the ink. And then I new real pain. If burned. It felt like i had stuck my arm in a tub of hot oil. It hurt so damned mutch. I let out another scream at the pain. The pain in my back was gone but the pain in my arm was so much, much worse.
And then it was over. No pain no nothing. I felt normal. I stopped crying and gazed at my arm. A vicious tattoo wrapped around my arm. It had scales of a snake or a dragon or something. Each scale is black but if you looked at them at a slightly different they glimmered gold. Swallowing I stood up and said,
"Do...do you have a bowl of water." he smiled and with a wave of his hand a basin of water floated towards me. Turing I looked at my shoulder at a different angle and was startled by the angry looking animal head, it had a main and whiskers and long sharp teeth and big bushy eyebrows. It took up my whole left shoulder and part of my back. Blinking I said stupidly,
"Well it doesn't look like a seal." Sage laughed and said
"Hahah, it is a special type of seal of my people, its a dragon." Blinking I said,
"Dragons don't look like this, there big Lizards with big wings and scales." Sage laughed and said,
"The dragons of my country are more like serpents then like lizards and they are quite different, there known for their wisdom and power." I nodded and said,
"Your people are strange." he smiled and said,
"Yes were strange. And i'm gonna teach you the ways of my strange people." Nodding I sad,
"I have nothing better to do." He grinned and said
"Oh you're gonna regret that latter but no take backs." And that's when my hell started.