Boom! Alred falls to the ground. It's been a week since he started to build his master crystal. The only problem he's running into is he can't control all of his new power. He throws the broke shards across the cave. Pulling himself up he walks towards the tree in the middle of the room.
He's figured out of the pass couple days that he feels better when he's sitting close to the egg. He figures it has something to do with the power Else gave each of them. He's thankful for the strength she gave him. He's still stuck with dragon scales covering his body.
He sits next to the tree. Taking slow deep breaths he lets his mana go. The flood gate that has been holding it back burst. The energy filling his body. He leans again the tree letting his eyes rest.
"Hello, Alred." Her voice smooth but rich with an accent he's never heard before. Her words sound chipped.
"Hello?"
"OH good. You can hear. I must quick, I am the Tree of Life. Do not move or you will disconnect us." He presses his body closer to the tree. "You are in danger. The Master who is with you is not him. Although I do not know who he is, he does not mean well. I have been able to keep the child safe but you must make a move soon and leave with the egg. The child will be fine but you must not trust anyone. Even those you have a contract with. You have three nights before you can leave. Begin to get ready. You may have to fight to get out of here."
Alreds eyes snap open. Master Lake standing in front of him. They look at each other. Alred fights his urge to run away. How does a tree know this?
"Master, what can you tell me about this tree?" Alred pulls himself up. Running his hands across the trunk.
"I only know it is a sapling of the World Tree or others like to call it the Tree of Life." He starts to pace around the tree.
"Can it speak?"
"Did it talk to you?" Alred freezes at this question. He curses in mind. That was the wrong question.
"N..no." He stutters. "Just the way Else spoke of it. Made it seem like it was more then a tree." Alred turns to look at his master. Black bolts of energy dance around Master Lakes hand.
"You're bad liar Alred. What did the nice tree say to you?" He reaches down grasping the tree. The black bolts join together they reach out biting into the tree. He pulls his hand away ripping a chunk of the tree with it. Alreds heart jumps in his chest.
Alred takes a step back, as his foot lands it steps on something. He looks down to see his staff. He hurries to pick it up. As his hand wraps around it, pain enters his side. The room becomes a blur. He feels his back crack as he slams into a wall. He falls to the floor with a thud.
He pulls himself up, using his makeshift staff as a cane. He knees shakes, his eyes having a hard time focusing. He starts to fill his crystal with mana.
"Good, I'm glad your going to try and fight. It was so boring pretending to be this old bag." The black bolts start to dance around his body, his flesh melting off him. His once leather like skin turn into a pale almost pink in color. The gray hair became lighter until it was blond.
"Wh… O are y…ou?" Alred stumbles over his words.
"Me?" He points at his chest. "I'm the prince of darkness, the taker of this baby dragon." Power floods through his body as this person talks. "I have gone by many names, today I am known as Valmoch. Not that you will be able to…" Alred raises up. The shaking in his body fades away. He grasp his staff, touching it to the ground.
"Earth-Razer." Dark brown rocks start to cling to his staff. The rocks flatten out in the shape of a sword. It's wide blade held to the staff by thick bands of rocks. Alred swings the giant sword, it slices the ground in front of him.
"Very good. I see you managed to create a mid-level crystal." He mocks, his face stuck in a huge grin. "You have a decent amount of mana and including your new dragon powers, you should be hard opponent. Never the less, you are still a child."
He holds his hand up, a black stream fills a into a ball. He points the black ball at Alred, it starts to spin like its building up power. Alred runs at the black sphere. Raising his new sword above his head. As he aims to chop the sphere in half he feels a cold hand push him to the side.
His eyes snap to the side and he kicks off the ground pushing himself farther away from the black sphere. He blinks his eyes a few time while looking at the man in front of him. He looks just like Valmoch did when he dressed as Master Lake.
The new man twists his hand and a water gush from the ground blocking the black sphere. They both erupt forcing Alred even farther back.
"When you choose to walk the path of a warrior mage. You best be careful. Most people will attack you with explosive magic. They know you're going to cut it." The man's eyes feel cold and crisp like the first day of winter. Alred watches the new man summon five large ice sickles. He launches them towards Valmoch.
"Dam you Jon, when did you get here." Valmoch runs to the side trying to dodge the ice.
"Oh, I don't know. I have been here the whole time. Do you really think we left a dying dragon alone? I saw you teaching him so I stayed quite." Jon, Alred guess that is who he is.
"Ugh, I only did that to act like you. A waste of time. If they can't figure it out then they can just die."
Valmoch slams on his brakes, turning to face Jon. Two black streams shoot form his hands. Bolts jump of the streams, as a bolt hits a rock they each explode. Jon jumps to the side of the first one. A blue ice sword slices through the second one.
Valmoch pushes his hands closer together forcing the two stream to merge. The large stream rips the ground up as it races towards Jon.
Jon summons a dozen ice spears. He grips the air above his head, leaning forward to throwing all of them. They smash into the black stream. Steam covers the area. As it starts to clear, a crater is formed in the ground.
They both look to where Valmoch stood. Nothing but footprints. Alred runs toward the exit.
"It's a waste of time Alred. He is long gone. Seems he's wiser sometimes. He wasn't able to go the egg, which is good. Come we have much to discuss." Jon walks to the tree.