Page 29 of Legends of Sorcery
“Good. I guess try imagining you’re grabbing hold of it or wiping it off her,” she said. “You have to remove it from her.”
“It’s covering her like a blanket,” Arion said softly as he moved his hands around allowing himself to see the magic in a way he couldn’t put into words.
“Take the blanket off, Arion,” Valaria said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
He tried. He reached out and attempted to peel off the thick layer of darkness he could see in some way even with his eyes closed. It was a visual sight, but more of a visionary one. As he reached out to pull it from her, searing pain shot up his arm and his hands engulfed in flames.
“Arion!” Valaria shrieked. She grabbed a bucket of water nearby and doused him with it. It put out the fire but left severe burns on both of Arion’s hands.
He didn’t mean to yell at her. He didn’t mean to say awful things about what a ridiculous little girl she was and how she knew nothing. But he was in so much pain he couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out.
“I don’t know, I don’t have magic,” he yelled before stomping off.
Valaria sat there staring at his retreating back. She knew she should follow him, make sure he got home okay, and help tend to his wounds, but she was so stunned by his vicious outburst that she couldn’t make her feet follow him.
She looked back at Callia and stroked the beautiful animal.
“He really doesn’t know. Does he?”
The unicorn made a noise like she was responding and truly understood.
“Someday he’ll realize how powerful he really is. If he really wasn’t of magic, the dark magic couldn’t have hurt him like that. Darkness always repels the light.”
Chapter 11
“What have you done this time?” Zallon asked as Arion snuck back into their home.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened,” he said, wincing in pain.
“This isn’t something that is going to heal quickly, not even with the herbs I have. Here, take a seat and let me look.”
Arion listened and sat offering his charred hands.
“You were messing with the dark magic, weren’t you?”
“I guess,” he said. “Valaria had an idea. It was a stupid one, clearly. Can you fix it or at least help dull the pain?”
Zallon nodded. “I’ll do what I can, but next time, think with this,” he said tapping him on the forehead. “Instead of this,” he placed his hand over his heart. “I know Valaria is a pretty girl and I’m sure you want to impress her but messing with dark magic could get the both of you killed. She’s a princess of Gavalon, Arion.”
“I know, and that’s not what this was about. I swear it.”
Soon both his hands were covered in salve and wrapped in cloth. Zallon then gave him a disgusting syrupy tonic that he promised would help with the pain.
“Go back to bed, Arion. Your body will need time to heal.”
“But the unicorns…”
“The unicorns will wait another day.”
Bored and frustrated, Arion had nothing but time to think about his future. As the elixir took effect and the pain began to subside, he laid there in bed staring at the ceiling with only his thoughts for company.
He tried to imagine what life would be like five years down the road, ten, twenty. If he accepted the apprenticeship as everyone expected him to, his fate was sealed, or at least that’s how it felt.
He hadn’t allowed himself to truly consider any other path in life. Zallon had taken him in when no one else would. He had raised him like a son, and Arion felt he owed the man everything. Not to accept would disappoint him.
His thoughts drifted to Valaria. She had weaseled her way into his life so quickly that he suddenly couldn’t imagine a future without her in it. He knew as a commoner, he could never have a relationship beyond friendship with her. That was just a reality no matter what either of them wanted. The title of High Keeper was a powerful one, but it also directly excluded him from the pool of suitors for her.
Someday she would move on and marry. She would bear a future king and live an exotic life of privilege that he could not even fathom. In his fantasies he could think of her as more than just a friend, but in reality, that’s all she could ever be.
