Chereads / Hero's Fable / Chapter 5 - The Eternal Flame

Chapter 5 - The Eternal Flame

It's been two weeks since Taliyn started his training in sword magic. As Master Quincy left him to his own devices for a few days, as a means of letting Taliyn practice on his own. He used the tree that had fallen as a measure of the Hardening technique. Sticks would continue to break either in his hands or against the log.

It was frustrating Taliyn a little as there didn't seem to be any progress with his efforts. Not at first anyway. But by the second week, Taliyn had managed to make the stick he held withstand a single strike against the tree. Before he got excited and the stick burst in his hands again.

The sticks weren't that thick by any means, you could snap it with your fingers as it was only as wide as a peanut. So having finally made progress he would try to replicate what he did. Allowing the energy to flow but not just from the center of the stick, but to have flow in an almost like a swirl inside it. It proved effective but when Taliyn accidentally lost his concentration, the stick shattered.

But now with the style of energy flow he had come up with, he called for Quincy to come and test it. It didn't take long for the old man to get back to the woods as he still spry for his age. Grabbing a stick from the dwindled pile the stick glowed and was ready to test Taliyn's results. Taliyn braced himself as he raised stick in his hands and spun the energy inside the stick.

With a single swing, Quincy brought down his stick to make contact with Taliyn's. For a moment, the stick had bent and it looked like it was about break. But as Quincy noticed that his energy was being pushed back away from Taliyn's stick. As if Taliyn's energy was grinding and repelling Quincy's energy. A smile grew on his face as he released the tension on the two sticks and stepped back.

Sitting down on the log, Quincy couldn't help but chuckle, "Taliyn, it seems you've learned to harden of your Will quickly. I believe you are rotating the energy flow inside your stick."

Taliyn nodded, "Yeah I kept trying to harden my Will inside the stick but I couldn't maintain it's shape normally. I decided to try and possibly allow the energy to flow freely, but that caused the stick to break every time, then I tried condensing it, which didn't end well. Then I thought about rotating the energy inside to possibly give it a form my Will could manage."

Quincy nodded, listening closely to Taliyn's explanation. Having heard he tried other methods to manipulate his Will was actually impressive. Quincy believed that with his current use of his Hardening technique, Taliyn could learn to break through his limitation. For at this moment, Quincy could see the flow of Taliyn's Will. His own body seemed to have little Will. But there was a tether to something comprised of Will that he could see. He could see they were connected by this strand.

But the most interesting thing was how powerful the Will being was. It had more Will than average mage that matched that of a High Sage. Which are among the most talented and powerful magicians in all of Albion. When Quincy saw Taliyn using the stick, he could see the Will energy not coming from the being itself, but from around Taliyn. Like he was drawing in the Will around him in small amounts.

Placing a hand on Taliyn's should he smiled at him, "I am pleased to say you have a unique talent for my teachings." He then looked towards the being who seemed to be floating behind a tree not too far away. "I can guess your friend tried to help you, but you never gave up. Is that right?"

Taliyn froze for a moment turning towards the tree where he saw Dusk. Then back to Quincy, "You can see her too?" That surprised the old man as he looked towards the Will being. It had come out from behind the tree and floated behind Taliyn. "She had guessed you could see her whenever you looked her way."

Quincy let out a chuckle, "I guess you caught me," he raised his hands in a surrendering manner, "yes I could see friend. But, I didn't know what it was, just the essence of its Will... or rather the Will that connects you both." Taliyn decided to tell Quincy about Dusk, how he remember her always around ever since he could recall his earliest memory. How she was the one casting spells instead of him.

It all sounded insane for someone's Will to exist as a separate conscious being that wasn't touched by physical objects. He questioned if Will attacks would hit her, which he received the response, "I don't know." He didn't want to test it in fear of damaging Taliyn's Will or hurting Dusk.

"She mostly hides in my shadow unless I need her out for other reasons." He looked down, "Like for if I were to hide from my friends since they can't see her. Or if I was trying to sneak out and practice my stealth training with Master Markus."

Quincy nodded and also admitted that he could always see Dusk, "Although not in the way you can. All I can see is the form she takes, but not her actual form." He tried to hear anything that Dusk was telling Taliyn, but couldn't for he guessed it was part of their connection.

"She said, 'Tell the old man to keep his eyes to himself for others can see you looking at me.'" He found it funny that Taliyn or Dusk weren't concerned about Quincy talking to any of the other masters. But it was a form of trust and with the fact he could see her anyway. Taliyn did say he could preform weak versions of spells on his own while she could cast the more powerful and complex spells as long as he knows them.

It was an interesting predicament that the two were in. One able to cast powerful spells but not able to physically interact with the world. While the other lacked powerful Will of their own, but could exist in the physical world. He wondered if they ever tried to combine their power. Asking that question he got an immediate answer.

"We have, it causes some weird effect as we both end up hurting or exhausted. Like something is preventing us from connecting or becoming one." Taliyn went into explain that when they cast a spell together, it's much more powerful but leaves them both tired. But when it came to Taliyn and Dusk combining physically, it just wasn't possible. At least not to their knowledge as even Dusk, a being comprised of pure Will, couldn't return to Taliyn.

He pondered the aspects of their situation. Quincy decided to look further into it but at a later point. "Well," he clapped his hands together, "for now why don't you try to have her help you in making the same rotational effect inside a stick and I will strike the stick with my own energy." Taliyn looked towards Dusk and then nodded.

This was honestly to see how the effect of their bond worked with his ability to see the Will of others. He was surprised to see the shadow of Dusk flow over Taliyn as he concentrated on the stick. At first the energy flowing into it was weak, still not strong enough for a young adult. But as soon as Dusk added her well of Will, the energy expanded and expanded.

What he saw almost multiplied the power of the Hardening technique exponentially. To Quincy, it looked as if Taliyn was holding a swirling storm of energy in his hands. Surprisingly the stick held its form although it looked like it was going to burst the strain of power. But the Hardened Will kept it intact.

Taking his own stick he tested out the strength of the energy that enveloped Taliyn's stick. As he brought their sticks together Quincy's stopped short inches away as the energy itself was preventing him from making contact. Before he noticed that moments later of trying to force his way through that it rebounded him away. The old man ended up on the ground as Taliyn opened his eyes and saw his master had fallen.

"Oh I am so sorry Master, you alright?" He went over to help as the energy flow stopped as Taliyn ran from Dusk. Quincy saw that the energy that they were outputting was only when they were together. As if they weren't strong enough on their own with Dusk's ability to cast spells and Taliyn's combat skills. Together, he could only imagine what they could do if they did that for all of their abilities.

But as Taliyn went over his vision doubled and he started to sway as he was approaching Quincy. Stumbling and nearly tripping to the ground himself, Taliyn caught a nearby tree to hold him up. Quincy now understood that it was also a major toll on their bodies as he could see Dusk start to fade a bit. She returned to Taliyn's shadow and vanished from sight.

"I see why you said it wasn't something you could do all the time." Quincy sat up and brushed himself off, "What you need to do is train your stamina for your connection to Dusk. Allowing it to not be a one and done trick." Standing and walking over to Taliyn, Quincy put a hand on his shoulder. "You are a fine pupil and a quick learner, I'm sure you'll do great at the Trial."

They both smiled at each other as they walked out of the forest to return to the guild. Marcus questioned Quincy about letting Taliyn stay in the forest for so long. Or the fact that the old man didn't talk to him about taking Taliyn as a pupil. Master Marcus was strangely protective of Taliyn ever since he was old enough to see Dusk. He always thought it was weird for Marcus to obsess about Taliyn's well being.

While they were talking to one another, Taliyn managed to recover himself by doing a quick meditation. For whatever reason he could recover his fatigue by meditating his Will and Dusk's. Allowing them to recover faster from their energy drain. This was possible thanks to Master Dirk's teachings about the Will around the whole of Albion.

With this small meditation session, he was feeling fit enough to go out back to the forest. The reason being to get back into the hole where to torch was. He first wanted to gather some rope and a hook to make sure he would fall at that height again. It was more to be sure that the entrance under the kitchen was not going to open for him. He grabbed his wooden training sword since his metal one broke. The only thing left that he could take with looking suspicious.

Sneaking his way past various guild guards and the guild masters. Taliyn made his way down to the kitchen and into the cellar. Moving the barrels out of the way so he could see the whole wall. What he didn't notice before was the fact the wall actually had carved runes on the corners that he could finally read, though some was scratched out.

"Here lies the entrance to the ... Torch. Those that embody the Shadow of Will, may proceed." As he read the words, they flowed brightly and the wall began to dematerialize in front of him. Revealing the archway that would lead into the catacombs. He didn't understand why it didn't open originally when he was younger. But he had to guess that it was because Dusk wasn't with him at the time.

She crept up from his shadow and held onto his right shoulder, "Well, I can sense a powerful object down here. Like someone left a trail for a rat to follow before getting trapped." Dusk continued to hold onto his shoulder and hover over him. She wasn't afraid but cautious of the catacombs as they radiated dread to her.

Taliyn didn't seem to be bothered, although he could sense it too. A pressure in the air that made breathing difficult for him as if he had a bag of sand on his chest. Entering the catacombs and passing through the door he lit a nearby torch with some flint and steel. He wasn't going to waste energy to light a torch with Will like he did before when he was younger. He followed the path and continued down hallway after hallway. Seeing that the footsteps that both he and Kora left behind were still there.

"It's as if time stood still here," he had knelt down to investigate the prints. He touched the indents in the wet soil and found that they were warm to the touch. "That is really bizarre, it's as if someone had just ran through here but I know these were ours."

Dusk floated up and leaned down to also feel them out. "There seems to just be a strong presence of Will all around us. Maybe it's preserved the impact you kids left here?" Her guess was a pretty good one, since he didn't have any answer to it. They continued on, passing by skeleton after skeleton, some in armor with broken weapons, while some had retained their flesh like a mummy.

It gave Taliyn shivers thinking about them as he didn't wish to join the ranks of the dead here. As they came to the large archway that led to the large room with the torch. Dusk clenched Taliyn's shoulder hard.

"Taliyn, be careful," her voice became a bit shaky, "I really don't like this place. It feels off, like a cage on fire and being eaten alive by crows." He looked around and reached down for one of the broken swords that was scattered about the ground. Walking up to the stairs that led to the torch he took a deep breath.

"Let us see if we can claim this artifact and make use it for ourselves eh?" As Taliyn took his first step, the ground shook. The air felt warm as the cavern echoed with the howls of dying men. Covering his ears, he turned to see green flames surrounding the corpses of the dead. It began flooding into their skulls and chest as the lights vanished.

Then the lights returned as the dead began to rise. The torch above Taliyn also had a green flame that had lit up the surrounding area. That's when he heard it, a voice of echoing strength.

"YOU WILL BE TESTED, FALL AND I SHALL CONSUME YOUR WILL! SUCCEED AND YOU WILL BECOME MY NEW BARER!"