Lycster fell to the ground, his jaw hitting hard onto the dirtied water ground. A wound formed on his chin as blood began to seep out. Lycster's tears blurred his vision. The pain was unbearable, but he needed to push through it. He wanted to return to Timbretune, to Carole, to Vyrena.
The other guard picked Lycster up by his head and looked at the boy.
"This is where you belong, boy! And when we ask you to eat, you better eat! Or you'll be sorry!"
He forced Lycster's head into the spilt food. Both he and the tattooed guard laughed as Lycster struggled to fight back. Their laughter fueled his anger. It burnt out his will to get out. The opened gate of the cell was right there, within his grasp.
But he could not reach any further for it. He tried so hard, struggling, but nothing worked. The laughter of the guards drowned out his own thoughts. All he could hear was their sinister laughter.
But somewhere in his mind, another voice was calling out to him. A familiar voice, Vyrena's voice. He remembered the times he and Vy trained in the Green Forest, in hopes that he could learn transformation magic. But he was too young, and not strong enough to learn it yet.
Now, more than ever, he wanted to learn it. He needed it. He wanted to be free again. But in between all the pain he received, another emotion grew stronger. Anger. All his life, Lycster had been looked down upon and bullied by those stronger than him. The guards in the town, now Baron's men. He wanted nothing more than to lash out. He sought revenge.
A voice of evil whispered in his ears, taunting him with memories of being bullied. How he had run away from the town he originally was born in, travelling down the road aimlessly. Hunger and fatigue took him, as he crawled towards the gates of Timbretune.
Some people saw him but never lent a hand. He was all alone, broken and worn. The voice tainted him to fight back, to prove to them that he was not weak. Lycster was not to be messed with.
Lycster realised he was no longer in the dark cell, all the injuries were no more. In fact, his body was nothing more than a shadow.
He was in an overgrown forest at night. In front of him, was a clearing. The moonlight shone down on the creature that stood in the clearing. Spheres of black flame surrounded the creature, putting its features into focus. It had long sharp claws, leather-like skin and dark yellow pupils.
It stood on its hind legs, glaring at Lycster.
The head of the creature resembled a grotesque lion, with a long flowing mane of messy brown. On its back was a pair of bat-like membrane wings, and it had a hissing python for a tail. The creature was grotesque, a mix of different creatures fused into one.
But the anger and desires that Lycster had overcome his fears and worries. But as soon as he took a step forward his legs went numb. A hand shot out from the shadows, pulling him back. Lycster's struggled and clawed forward.
He called out to the creature. He wanted its power. He wanted to be stronger. The creature's ears flicked as if it had heard Lycster's cry. Within a flash, the creature was right next to Lycster. It picked Lycster up by his head and both of them met eye to eye.
The creature unhinged its jaw, revealing two rows of sharpened teeth.
~
Vy felt a shudder down her spine, she turned to look at her surroundings. She was indoors in Alias's store, there was no wind of cold air that would have made her shudder.
-Could something bad had happened?-
-Dotty, are you able to establish communication back to Timbretune?-
That was something she needed to remember. Dotty has reminded her before on multiple occasions that the next upgrade was much harder because it required much more particles. But their recent travels have helped to bring up those numbers. The Elves Alliance was ancient and likely had strong particles everywhere.
-Well, let's make use of our time here then! An upgrade for you and money for me.-
Alias had gone into the back of the store to call for a little more assistance with the appraisal. In order to make it official, this was necessary. An elf woman appeared and took some time to analyse the emerald.
"Let me introduce you, this is Clara Ormana, one of my apprentices. She specialises in incantations and imbuing objects with magic," Alias introduced Vyrena to Clara.
Clara Ormann wore a simple tunic dress, a common outfit worn by most Elves living in this quarter. Her blonde hair was tied into a single braid that cascaded down her shoulder. She wore a pair of magnified spectacles and greeted Vyrena with a smile.
"It's my pleasure to meet you, Miss Blackfire, "Clara shook hands with Vyrena.
"The pleasure is mine."