After the attack, the group moved quickly through the forest, stopping only when they reached a clearing by a small, crystal clear stream. Lyra signaled for them to rest, and the travelers immediately began setting up camp.
Aelric sat by the stream, staring at the pendant in his hand. it looked so ordinary, just a simple sliver disk with strange symbols carved into it. Yet, it had the power to repel the Shadow Beasts, something that no one in his village could ever do.
Lyra approached and sat beside him. "You have questions."
Aelric nodded. " How did I do that? How did the light come from the pendant?"
"The pendant is a conduit," she explained. "It draws on the magic within you. But it can only ampllfy what's already there. The light came from you, not the pendant."
Aelric's brow furrowed. "But I don't have any magic. I've never been able to do anything like that before."
"You do," Lyra said firmly. "You've always had it, even if you didn't know it. Magic in Eldoria comes from within, from connection to the elements and the world around us. The pendant simply awakened it."
Aelric shook his head. "This is all too much. Yesterday, I was just a boy from a small village, and now I'm supposed to be some kind of heir with magical powers?"
Lyra smiled softly. " I understand. It's a lot to take in. But you must embrace this power if you're to stand a chance aganist the Shadow King. The road ahead will be dangerious, and your magic will be the only rhing that can save you."
Aelric looked at her, uncertainty clouding his eye. "can you teach me?"
Lyra nodded. "I can show you the way, but the strength must come from you. Magic is not something that can be forced, it must flow naturally, like the wind or the river. You must learn to trust yourself."
Aelric swallowed hard. "I'll try"
Over the time flew days, as they continued their journey toward Elanor, Lyra began teaching Aelric the basics of magic. She taught him how to focus his energy, how to feel the world around him, and how to channel that energy into something tangible. It wa slow, frustrating work, but little by little, Aelric began to feel the magic stir within him.
At first, it was nothing more than a faint warmth in his chest, a flicker of light in his mind. But as he practiced, the warmth grew sronger, the light brighhter. He learned to summon small flames in the palm of his hand, to bend the wind to his will and to create shields of light, like the one that had saved them from the shadow Beasts.
But for all his progress, Aelric coudn't shake the feeling that he was still unprepared for what lay ahead.