Cursed world: Chapter three (II)

Hi again, this is just as messy as the first part, I hope it will be understandable.

Aleron woke up from his sleep to the touch on his shoulder. He flexed his neck painfully, from the position he was in. Sethis was the one to wake him up.

“It’s time to train”, he whispered, still poking him with the rod. Aleron mumbled, his eyes still half closed, but slowly stood up, clearing his clothes from the dirt.

“Follow”, Sethis ordered shortly after. Lantern was over his shoulder as usual, swaying in the cold breeze. There was no sign of Flame inside, it seemed like a plain, normal fire.

This Sethis, he was a mystery to Aleron. His sudden personality changes, most of. Now that he was thinking, he wasn’t completely sure if he was his hostage, of some kind. After all, his village could not refuse handing him over, and he would probably not be allowed to leave Sethis’s side.

“Here is the perfect place”, Sethis said, stopping suddenly not that far from the place where they were sleeping. All around them was a vast meadow, with rare birch trees placed occasionally. This place was so different from his home. Somehow, it was full of life. Aleron failed to notice it when they first settled here earlier that day. The meadows, did he see them for the first time just now? But something about the swaying grass was oddly familiar.

“Can you tell how many times did I use the magic so far?” Sethis asked him out of nowhere.

The question wasn’t all that surprising to Aleron, he was thinking about it a lot. “You came across the sea with it, and manipulated fire in our village. But that is just using Flame, isn’t it?” Sethis nodded firmly, and Aleron continued:” You used it to persuade the guards at the Grimstone, and to keep the people away from us… and while fighting lord Havindir, you somehow dulled the sword. I don’t know what was…that magic.”

Unsure how to actually name it, the thing that killed the Havindir, Aleron hesitated. Sethis easily noticed his unease flashing on his face.

“Havindir was hunting his own subordinates, and making his clothes out of their skin, Aleron. I wanted to purify him, to drain his darkness out, but there was nothing left inside.”

The boy nodded in comprehension, with a serious look. “I know why it had to be done.”

“Is that all you noticed?” Sethis smiled. Aleron could give no answer, he stood there and waited.

“Well, it is very sharp of you to notice what I did with the blade. But can’t you tell I’m using it right now?”

Aleron gasped, trying to shake off the feeling of being controlled, but his teacher was soon to continue. “Look at our surroundings. Have you ever seen the world, lively as now?” He shook his head. “You can’t see it anywhere, today. Somehow, I can make the world heal. But I’m not strong enough to heal the whole world.”

“That’s how you were healing Arin?” Aleron surprised. “I completely forgot about it! She looks completely fine now.”

His teached smiled broadly. “You are sharp indeed. I will tell you about the magic I can use, and hopefully teach you all of it. I can fix what’s wrong with this world. I’m not completely sure how it works myself, but under it comes this ‘healing’ power as you call it, what I’m doing right now, and dulling that sword.”

“Healing Arin and dulling the sword is the same magic?”

“Yes”, Sethis seemed to enjoy this. “Humans are not meant to be sick and metal is not meant to be shaped. There is something wrong with both of them.” He watched in awe Alerons face flusing with realization. “The second ‘category’, is affecting the humans around me. I can make people do as I want. This is not the case with you, however. Or… that girl. The last one you witnessed is, manipulating the darkness inside the humans.”

“What?” this seemed to disturb Aleron. Manipulating it? What is that supposed to mean?

“The darkness, this hatred and madness of the world is just as touchable as you and me. This rod I have is the one example of it. What else, but human hatred would be strong enough to contain a force of nature such as Flame is?”

Sethis lifted his free hand, and stretched it out before him. At first Aleron didn’t notice the fine black needles reaching up from the ground. They formed a black plate which seemed to levitate off the ground, and Sethis stepped on it. “This is how I crossed the sea.”

With mouth wide open, Aleron couldn’t believe it. So basically… he is levitating on a plate made of human hatred. Hmm…

“This is insane.”

“Look into your bag”, Sethis seemed to ignore him. This confused the boy, who almost immediately reached toward his side and a black bag he wore.

Inside there were several scrolls and a bottle with transparent liquid. “Whats all of this?”

“It is my gift to you. Find a scroll sealed with a blue seal.” Aleron couldn’t shake of this feeling of being amused reaching from Sethis. But his curiosity was stronger than him. He soon pulled out the requested scroll.

“Open it, and unfold it over the ground.”

Aleron did as ordered. There was a large text all over I written in a small signs he had never seen before. But in the middle of it there was a gap formed by words, forming a white human hand. Sethis shown him to put his hand on.

Aleron placed it. His fingers were severely smaller than the gap; it was probably made for a grown man. Aleron waited, but nothing happened. He looked at his teacher who seemed lost in thoughts.

“Good, it is all I needed”, Sethis finally said. “Put it back. I will teach you how to use Flame first. Learning your own magic will take some time, this way you will at least be useful to me.”

This was it? Nothing happened? Aleron couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the scroll as he was putting it back in his bag. There were dozens more, what if none of them did anything?

“Catch!” it was yelled to him; he barely managed to clip his fingers around the rod before it smashed into his face.

How can it feel soothing? Even after I learned what this is… even after I saw…

“You can’t contain your presence kid. It’s so rude to wake me up like this”, Flame appeared after some time. Contain my presence? What’s he talking about?

“You can feel it Flame, don’t you?” Sethis’s voice was sinister.

“There is such a pile of it.” Voice inside the lantern replied soon enough.

“What are you talking about?” Aleron demanded to know, but the duo decided to ignore him.

“I don’t want to be with this kid” Flame said.

“Nevermind. Just cooperate.”

He was certain he could feel Flame’s hatred flowing through the rod, but it decided to say nothing else.

The smile danced over Sethis’s face. “Let’s begin.”

Aleron never noticed the box of matches inside his hands, nor when he decided to lit one. But as soon as fire danced in the night, pictures overwhelmed him. This tiny source of light dancing in his master’s hand suddenly burst into a raging curl of light and heat almost reaching to Aleron himself. It swallowed Sethis completely.

The grass caught in fire too, and the trees around were smoking.

Just wha... what happened? Did I do this? Sethis, are you allright?

But nothing stopped. Pictures continued to appeare before him, and he acknowledged them all. Fire started twisting high into the sky, spiraling towards the stars.

He didn’t notice his rod becoming red of heat. The pain spread from his hand to his bones, biting his whole body in an instant. Moreover, this blaze kept spreading around, keeping him in a small circle, completely surrounded.

It will reach Arin.

In an instant, he broke free off his pain paralysis. With a scream, Aleron shoved it into the ground deep, almost to the point where he was holding it.

These pictures kept flashing before his eyes, but he saw one he wanted to come true.

This wildfire started swirling around him, reaching towards his rod. They were buring him, and his arm glued to it.

Still screaming, Aleron targeted his look towards the Flame. He was bursing out inside, like aleron had never seen him before. Am I… hurting you?

The rod sucked up all the fire, and Aleron crushed to his knees. The skin on the palm of his hand was burned down and glued to the rod, and his whole body was burned around randomly. The pain was so great that he could not move; he just stood there, breathing heavily, watching the sunrise.

A charred figure was smoking not so far away. He held his hand before him, as if he was holding something. The char cracked around his fingers and fell apart.

He is still alive.

Bloodied fingers appeared from under it. Soon the figure cracked once again, and again, until his teacher was completely free, and completely burned over every inch of his body.

“What a breeze”, he finally said. “For the man who swam in the hearth of the volcano, this is nothing but a breeze.” But he did seem to be in pain, however. That stubborn man.

“What happened…” Aleron cried out too silent to be heard.

“Good job, Flame.”

“Sethis, I didn’t put it down. The kid did it on his own. What is worse, I couldn’t do it. His will was too strong.”

“I can see that”, Sethis said while his look glanced over the hand holding tightly onto the rod. It then ran over the small hill far away, the place where the fire stopped.

“Ah, so that was it.”

“What is this kid Sethis? I don’t want him to hold me anymore. Damn it, I’d rather be with you.”

Sethis laughed out. “Rather be with me? I can’t imagine what could make you say that.”

“I’m… sorry”, Aleron whispered. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Flame.”

“I’ve never seen power like his. He almost extinguished my will, Sethis.”