Five years ago, sometime after Nyne wrecked the Tasse Aerythen.
Tryve walked into the room and sat down. Gweyn sat just ahead of him and Benat, his son's tutor, just to her right. Tryve did not understand, or rather had no clue as to what he was doing there. Only three days ago did Gweyn make her stand obvious that he had lost all rights to assessing Nyne's ability of using magic. There was no way Fyve was the problem. The boy had not even returned to the school yet per his shared suspension with Brokkoli.
"For what reason am I called here, Ms Gweyn?" he asked.
Gweyn cleared her throat and leaned forward on her desk before speaking. The words she mouthed next were contrary to what happened days past between her and Tryve.
"Mr Tryve, we called you here because..." she said, heaving a sigh, "...because your son, Nyne, has awakened."
Tryve's ears tingled at what he heard and immediately stood to his feet. Slamming his palms on the desk, he stared deep into Gweyn's eyes.
"That's not possible!" he yelled, "Even you told me that!"
"So we thought, Mr Tryve. Apparently, Nyne now has the ability to use magic. A miracle, I must say," Benat said.
"Come with us," Gweyn said.
She and Benat took Tryve to the sanctum at the basement of the institution. Gweyn opened up the sacred place and ushered him in.
"No way!" Tryve uttered.
Even Benat's mouth was left wide open by what he saw. He'd only been told about it but never witnessed with his eyes what happened. There on the ground, laid the Tasse Aerythen in four scattered parts. The magical tool was shattered.
Tryve turned to Gweyn. "You mean to tell me Nyne did this?" he asked.
"Yes. Your son harbours an incredible amount magical energy within him. Even I have not seen anything like it. So powerful yet remains dormant."
Gweyn went on to explain to Tryve that Nyne needed the attention of sorcerers beyond what their school of magic could offer. So much was hitting Tryve all at once. The father of two could not process all these much information at the spot.
"I have to go," the sentence fell out of his mouth and not by his own doing. He was simply overwhelmed.
-
Behind the Laneads' Inn, Nyne enthusiastically chopped large trunks of trees into logs of wood. It was the one thing he enjoyed doing growing up. Chopping wood sort of brought him peace and happiness. Quite ironic for a chore so tasking.
"By the gods, boy!" Gaia exclaimed, "You already did all that?"
"Yes, Mrs Gaia. It's nothing."
Gaia dropped the pot of soup she came outside to heat up and walked up to him, caressing the well chiseled muscles of his arms and belly. Nyne was a strong young man. His physical training from his younger age paid off.
It was morning, and the Inn had opened up to the villagers. Everything in that moment reminded Nyne of his own childhood and his father's pub, and this made his eyes tear up.
After nearly a day's worth of horse riding, Sirsca finally reached the Labronkath. Burying the medallion into a well fitting indentation at the giant gates like Nyne told her to, they opened up to her. On Cloud, she rode into the land where the Labronkath stood. It did not take long before she was apprehended by members of the skilled sorcerers of the Labronkath - The Aepari.
"What do you want here, woman?" a man among them asked.
Looking up from the ground where she was held down, Sirsca's gaze met Makr's, the man who spoke to her. She was taken captive and locked up in one of their cells. Her presence reported to the masters.
"Who did you say she was?" Reshi asked, escorted by Makr to Sirsca's cell.
"Nyne's godmother," Makr answered, "she said Nyne sent her. We found his medallion with her as well."
Reshi stood outside the cell where he could see Sirsca. Sirsca saw him but uttered no words. She was rather disappointed at the welcome treatment she got from the so highly held and prestigious sorcerers of the Labronkath.
"Ya know... I've heard of ya lots," she finally spoke, "They say ya lots are strong and mighty. Quite disappointing, the treatment ya give to a lady."
"How do you know Nyne?" Reshi asked, ignoring everything she just said.
"Boy's me godchild."
-
"Mrs Gaia," Nyne called.
"Yes, child."
"I heard some strange sounds last night. Did you too..."
Gaia rushed at him and covered his mouth, leaving the younger sorcerer befuddled.
"Did I say anything wrong?" he thought.
"Listen, child. Just know that you don't say such things out in the open".
Nyne leaned in on her and whispered into her ears what he heard.
"Come with me," Gaia said.
Gaia took Nyne into a room inside the inn and sat him down.
"You wouldn't know this since you're an outsider but this village has been cursed."
Nyne's eyes widened. "Cursed? By whom?"
Gaia gained his complete attention and Nyne was very much eager to hear what she had to say.
"The locals call it the curse of Madrea."
"The curse of Madrea?" Nyne murmured, "What's that?"
"I know not every single detail about it but what I have gathered in the past year and a half that I have lived among these people is that they were cursed by the spirit of a sorceress named Madrea. Cursed to turn into hideous creatures at night. Since then, there has been a lot of deaths amongst them since they were slain by sorcerers who bethought them monsters. So much so that they now remain within this village, trapped in it."
Nyne has a impressive wealth of experience with fighting magic beast but this recount shocked him even more. "The spirit of Madrea?"
"They say she is the creature of the night. They say she has been the captor of the village for decades. Even I have not made any moves to seek out information other than this which we bespoke".
"A curse that turns humans into monsters at night. She must be a demon of some sort," Nyne thought.
The matters that arose interested him. As a payment to the Laneads' kindness, Nyne made up his mind to do something about the situation. He decided to put an end to the curse on the village.
-
That night. Everyone slept and crickets chirped. At midnight, it started again. The strange sounds that Nyne heard. The only difference is, this time around he was awake waiting for it. Nyne stepped outside but not before pulling his blade from its sheath.
He treaded carefully through the village. Many eyes lurked in the dark, glaring at him. They were afraid. Nyne began to understand that the villagers turned monsters were harmless in their monster form. The air became very cold all of a sudden, a rush of wind whistling through the night. Nyne felt something and reacted, placing his blade before him. The wind struck him, pushing him into a pillar of stones.
"To fight in the dark of the night does not do me any good," he muttered.
Nyne turned to his side in a quick motion, slashing his blade through a pot of clay that was flung at him.
"Stop!"
Nyne chased after the one that did it. Soon appearing in another part of the village, he saw nothing. No one was there.
"Show yourself!" he commanded, "Show yourself now!"
The grip on his blade tightened. "Show yourself, Madrea!"
-
Trathmir approached Reshi, who was seated in front of a fireplace in his study.
"You cannot sleep, I see."
Reshi was lost in his thoughts that Trathmir's voice brought him back to the real world.
"How can I, master Trathmir?"
Reshi pondered on the discussion he had with Sirsca in her cell. Reshi was trying hard to connect the dots.
"And the woman?" Trathmir asked.
"She's been released. Chesca is by her side as we speak."
Old master Trathmir nodded. "Good. It does not speak well of us to treat guests in such a manner as we did her at first."
Trathmir moved to leave when Reshi stopped him.
"Master," Reshi called. Trathmir turned around.
"Do you think Yoken was right?" he asked.
"Hmm. That's a hard one. The only one who can answer that question is the child himself. His destiny can play out both ways but in the end, only he has the power to choose what path he winds up."
Reshi knew then that he needed to find Nyne.
Nyne felt a force pull him towards itself. Resisting the force, he heard a call of his name that came from outside the village. Nyne followed the voice to its source.
There, outside the entrance of the village, stood a creature. This creature had a humanoid form that was made completely from trees with many branches as tentacles. Its structure shaped into a feminine one.
The spirit of Madrea possessed a tree and used it as a representation of herself to appear before the young sorcerer.
"Well then, Madrea. It's showdown," Nyne said as he strengthened his grip yet again.