My hands were weathered and the black of my hair had faded to a shining silver over the years. The lines in my face would say that I was perhaps in my sixties, maybe even slightly younger, but a hundred and fifty years had passed since my birth. My connection to the Earth, and the bond that I shared with it had kept me young while those I knew and loved withered before me. I had watched year after year as death had come for them, until all but one was left. The one left was not someone I was eager to see.
But, alas, see him I would.
He was coming, I could feel it as acutely as I could feel the Autumn breeze on my cheek; it was fitting that he came this season. It was the season I left him in, all those seasons past. Over a hundred and thirty years had passed since our last meeting, but despite the time that left us, I always knew he would come.
I owed him something, after all, and Kedar was not one to leave behind debts unclaimed.
I closed my eyes to the wind, allowing it to wash over me, cleansing my skin from the grime of the past. I felt the storm coming before it ever arrived; with its lightening brightening the sky and thunder causing the very foundations of the Earth to rattle. Rain started to trickle down from the sky, the sun hidden behind black-gray clouds.
He had arrived, but I did not stand, nor did I open my eyes. He did not deserve such courtesies.
I heard his roaring voice behind me, desperate for the respect he deemed he deserved.
I stood, feeling the dull ache in my muscles that seemed ever present in my old age. “Kedar,” I nodded.
“Luciliana,” he returned with equal contempt. The years had not been kind to my old mentor; his skin sagged, his eyes looking dark and sullen. I could tell simply by looking at him that he was not alive by any natural means. He was here strictly through magics coursing through his body keeping him alive. Unlike the magics that kept me alive through the years, his were not of the Earth, they were something else... They would make him insane, with time.
“Why have you come?” I asked.
“Why do you think, dear sweet Luci? Did you think I had forgotten?”
“I did not.” I said coldly. “I had merely assumed that with age you had decided to leave promises made by children behind you.”
“You were not so innocent,” he spat.
I closed my eyes, holding my palms up towards the sky; I reached my mind out towards the elements. I felt him there, controlling, forcing, as he always was. I lashed out at him with my mind, hitting him with a blow as powerful as if I had slapped him, and he lost his grip on the storm. I felt the rain, felt the lightening in the sky, and with one wave of my hand I commanded that they cease. When I opened my eyes again, the clouds were fading to a pretty white, and the sun was shining again. I could feel the weight of water on my robes, and I met my eyes with his.
“I see your powers have grown, sweet Luci.” He mocked.
“Aye, and yours have weakened.” My calm voice took him by surprise, and I felt his temper flare as if it had been my own. My belly grew hot, and I felt the sparks igniting beneath the tips of my fingers. I could hear the faint crackle of my own power, my own need as it reared its ugly head inside me. “Do not test me, Kedar. It will be the only bet you’ve ever lost.” I told him.
“You are arrogant, Luciliana, it was always your sin. You’re too confident in your own abilities, and you do not see the value of mine.”
“Perhaps you have nothing of value for me to see.”
I could feel him brewing something, the elements stirred and a slight tremor beneath my feet alerted me to his plan before he could dream of putting it to the test. Even in my old age, I was far swifter than he would give me credit, and I dodged to the side just as water poured from the surface of the Earth and began to freeze. Had I stayed in my place, he would have frozen me in my spot.
“Childs play, Kedar. You should give me more credit than that.” I said mockingly.
I saw his eyes widen slightly, and I was pleased to see I had surprised him.
“Why have you come for me, Kedar? What could you possibly need from me after one hundred and thirty years have passed? Are you after my powers? Perhaps you know that I am now stronger than you were, even in the height of your powers. Is that why you have come now, to steal from me?”
“I’m not here for your magic, child. I am here to have my debt repaid.” I could feel him from here, his temper was on high; he was afraid.
“So tell me. Tell me Kedar! What task shall I do? What favor shall I grant? Tell me!” I heard the temper in my voice and felt the flames as they filled my palms—I held my hands out for him to see.
“Why do you show me what you cannot even use, Luci? We both know you are too terror-stricken to access your true powers!”
“Kedar, old man, you have not been here for a long time. You know not what I can and cannot do. You know nothing of my fears, nor have you ever. Again you underestimate me.” I told him. I held out my palms, creating a circle with them, forming the fire beneath, compressing it until it grew hot and centralized. I held it out before me, as if offering a gift. “Do not make me convince you.” I told him.
He shook his head, stepping back from his once protégé with a look of complete stupor.
“No! That is not possible! You are afraid!”
“Kedar, when I left you I was a child, I was afraid. You forget that years have passed, and I have faced foes much greater than yourself. My time on Earth is fleeting, and I have little left keeping me grounded here. You have come here for something, this I know. You are not a man that makes such a trip for no reason. So tell me, what task do you request of me?” I asked again, knowing it was the final time.
“Sweet Luci, you’re not playing the game.” He told me, shaking his head. “You’re not playing the game.”
His eyes met mine—those dark sullen eyes, full of pain and fear. “So it must be this way.” His tone was desperate, and it took me a moment to find his meaning.
And then, with a suddenness that startled me, realization dawned. He’d come here to die. It was not something I had expected, and I had not been prepared for it. I let the fire within my hands diminish, feeling as the flames went from raging to a mere flicker. He needed me to kill him, because he was too afraid, too weak to ever allow himself to go. The magics in his blood were powerful; perhaps more so than I would ever know, and he was going mad. I closed my mind to the man I once knew, the man that had taught me all that I had used my entire existence.
He was not my friend, nor was he lover, parent, or anything I had ever cared for… but he was there. In every battle I had ever fought, in every foe I had ever faced, he was there. The magic he had taught me raged through me in every aspect of my life, and even though I had never loved him, he was always there.
I felt a tear prickle behind my eye, but I blinked it away.
“Aye, it must be this way.” I told him.
I closed my eyes, allowing the fire to burn within me once more, allowing it to rage. I found my anger, held it before me, created power with it, and then with eyes closed, I pushed it all towards him with all of my might. I opened my eyes as he uttered one last scream. The ball of flame hit him with a force that knocked him off his feat, engulfing him quickly. He was gone before he could truly feel it, and I fell to the ground in a heap.
My chest heaved, my breathing coming out in ragged gasps.
Of all of the people I had ever lost, all the people I had ever ended, perhaps I loved and hated him the most. I put the flames to rest as quickly as I had ended his life, and I stared at the place where his body should have been, but ashes was all that left. I held out my arms, seeking the wind and pulling it towards me until I felt it blow my robes about. I watched as his ashes were caught on the breeze, and carried I know not where.
I would forever wonder if he always knew; if the day I made that promise he knew what debt he would need paid.
I would forever wonder where the wind had brought him.
Just make it a little bit more exciting. Pretty it up so it's more pleasure to read. Even if it's just for a character sketch, I think all writing deserves to be pretty and memorable.