The Sorcerer and Storm Maker

Afini, Alaelra and Delamu made their way to Buganbal but as they approached Buganbal Alaelra stopped them from going any further.

“What’s wrong Alaelra?” asked Afini.

“I just realized something. What if the king recognizes us” said Alaelra?

“She is right, if the king finds out you two are the same storm maker and sorceress he saw the night his father was killed there is no telling what he would do” said Delamu.

“So what do we do then?” asked Afini.

“I have an idea” said Alaelra before she used her magic to change her and Afini’s appearance.

“There, now we look nothing like ourselves” said Alaelra.

“Alright then, now we may continue” said Delamu before they continued to make their way to Buganbal.

Once they finally arrived at Buganbal they were met with the familiar faces of the villages.

From the way they looked at them Alaelra and Afini were reminded of the way the villagers casted and condemned them and every other mystic creature all those years.

Delamu noticing the way the people’s stares were affecting them said, “We should continue that the royal palace isn’t too far from here”.

They all then carried on moving through the kingdom of Buganbal until they reached the royal palace.

Once there Alaelra and Afini froze up, remembering the night in the palace King Adanjan died.

“Are you two okay” asked Delamu noticing that something was wrong with them.

Alaelra and Afini then came back to reality and said “we are”.

“Good, shall we go in then” asked Delamu.

“Let’s” said Alaelra as they entered the palace.

Once there Delamu took them to meet the one person they wore they would never look in the eye, king Atoni.

“Delamu, you have returned. Are these the warriors you spoke of” said the king upon seeing them.

Delamu then went down on his knees.

“Yes my lord, these two are warriors I spoke of. Allow me to introduce Afini, a brave and tremendously strong warrior who can conquer any beast imaginable and Alaelra, skilled woman with knowledge on all things magic and monstrous beast” said Delamu.

“Hmm” said the king as looked at Afini and Alaelra.

“These are the warriors you promised Delamu, nothing seems promising about them” said the king, not impressed by Afini and Alaelra.

Afini felt insulted by what the king said and his anger began to slowly rise.

As Afini’s anger grew small storm clouds began to form above the palace.

Alaelra noticed Afini’s rising temper and then held hand before whispering to him “control your temper dear before you destroy the entire castle with a lightning storm”.

Afini then looked out the window and thensaw the forming storm clouds, realizing his temper was the cause of the storm clouds forming and taking few calming breath and then calmed down before the king noticed.

“My lord, I know they may not look like much but I assure these two are the best of the best, you can try searching across the lands far from Buganbal and you still wouldn’t be able find warriors as capable as these two” said Delamu.

“Hmmm alright then since you are my head guard I will hold you on your word and trust that these two are our kingdom’s best hope. Take them to one of castle rooms so they can rest, they look tired” said the king.

“As you wish my lord” said Delamu before he, Alaelra and Afini left.

The princess roamed the palace halls along with her servants on her way to the throne room to talk to her father when she saw Delamu along with Afini and Alaelra leave the throne.

The princess almost mistook Afini for the storm maker that saved her from the beast the other night as both he and the storm maker look the same.

“Who are they” asked the princess to the servant.

“I’m not sure your majesty. All I know was that yesterday the kings seemed disturbed because of the beast that attacked Buganbal and orders his head guard get warriors” said the servant.

“Hmm” said the princess wondering why her father would be so worried about the beast that attacked last night.

The princess then went in to the throne room to speak with her father.

“Tari my child, what do you want” asked the king.

“The guards refuse to let me leave that castle, when I asked the guards to let me leave they told me that you ordered them to keep the palace gates shut and not to allow me leave” said the princess.

“Yes I did” said the king.

“But father…” the princess sentence was cut short by her father saying “but nothing, it’s far too dangerous for you to be outside the castle right now, what if another monster makes its way to Buganbal”.

“But father…” princess Tari’s sentence was cut short by the king raising his hand, forbidding her to speak.

“You are far too important to me child which is why I will do everything in my power to keep you safe even if that means imprisoning you in this castle” said the king.

Princess Tari even though she understood her father was only keeping her in the castle because he loved and deeply cared for her and only wanted to keep her safe was still anger and enraged by him basically imprisoning her in her own home.

Princess Tari having nothing left to say left the king’s presence, storming off, angry at her father.

The king, now alone sighed deeply, hoping his beloved daughter would not be angry at him for too long and would understand that the streets of Buganbal were no longer safe for her to roam.

Delamu took Alaelra and Afini to one of the many rooms in the castle to rest as the king ordered.

“To think, the same person that accused us of killing the former king and forced us to leave this kingdom is the same one that invited us in with open arms” said Alaelra jokingly with a smile as she thought about the irony of their situation.

Afini smiled as well upon hearing what Alaelra said.

Delamu then began to wonder about what happened the night King Adanjan died, he knew Alaelra and Afini were not responsible for his death but he could not help but wonder what happened the night he died.

“I don’t mean offend the both of you in any way and I know you two must have your reasons but, why were the two of you in the king Adanjan’s room the night of his death” asked Delamu.

Alaelra and Afini’s faces changed upon hearing what Delamu asked.

They looked more serious and even afraid.

Delamu could easily tell from the way they looked that whatever happened to the two of them that night was a tale they didn’t enjoy telling.

The room became silent as neither Alaelra nor Afini said a word, not wanting to have reply Delamu’s questions

“The both of you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to but I can tell that whatever happened that night had to be truly terrible to put fear in your hearts” said Delamu, understanding and respecting the fact that both Afini and Alaelra were not willing speak a word about what happened that night.

There was a brief moment of silent after Delamu spoke but the silence was broken by Alaelra saying, “we have job to do and the sooner we get it done the sooner we can go back to our lives away from Buganbal”.

Afini sighed deeply before saying, “Alaelra is right, we should waste our time thinking about the past”.

“Alright then, where do start from” asked Delamu.

“Do you have the remains of the beast with you” asked Alaelra.

“No but I think I can retrieve it and bring it to you” said Delamu.

“Bring it here, with it I think I might be able to use my magic to find out who sent the beast to Buganbal and possibly why” said Alaelra.

Delamu then left the room to get the beast’s remains, leaving Afini and Alaelra alone in the room.

Afini went to the window and looked to the kingdom of Buganbal, his home and where he was born.

He wished he could have raised Anja and Braiba there but sadly he couldn’t.

He remembered how Buganbal was before King Atoni made his law against mystical beings.

Back then they were giants, trolls, fairies and mystical creatures of all kind roaming the streets of Buganbal alongside the people and the people weren’t afraid or bitter towards them, the creatures and people shared a unity, respecting and honoring one another, it truly was a magical time but sadly very thing had changed thanks to the arrogant king who refused to listen to Afini and Alaelra all those years ago.

Afini then began to think about what truly happened the night the king died.

They were only trying to help but king Atoni refused to listen and blames them for his father’s death.

Alaelra saw that her husband was deep in his thoughts and so she went to him.

“What’s wrong Afini” asked Alaelra.

“I’m just thinking” said Afini.

“About?” asked Alaelra but Afini gave no reply and just continued to look out the window.

Alaelra then understood what he was thinking about.

“The past has passed; all we can do is focus on our future” said Alaelra.

“I know but being back here reminds me of the past even though I am trying so hard to forget” said Afini as he crushed is hands in to a fist, feeling angry and frustrated as memories of that night flashed in his mind.

The clouds above the castle then began to rumble with thunder.

Alaelra then placed her hands on he’s and said “I know being here reminds of what happened that night but like said before it’s in the past so keep there and don’t bring it in to your present”.

Afini then smiled at her before saying, “Your right Alaelra, what happened that night is in the past and I should just leave it there, besides…”

Afini then grabbed hold of Alaelra.

“Why should I focus on the past when I have a wonderful wife like you to give all my love and attention to” said Afini.

Afini then kissed Alaelra softly.

Alaelra then smiled at Afini seductively before saying, “you know Delamu won’t be back for a while which means we have this entire room to ourselves”.

“Careful my dear wife, you realize you are talking to a storm maker, we have the power to turn high mountains in to dust. Are you sure you can handle the full fury of my power” said Afini.

“And your forgetting that I’m a powerful sorceress, you might turn mountains in to dust but I can make them disappear so I’m pretty sure I can handle your ‘full fury’” said Alaelra.

“Alright then, let’s find out” said Afini before he began to kiss Alaelra passionately.

A while late Delamu came in only to see both Alaelra and Afini on the bed, covered in sheets and naked underneath.

Delamu was left speechless after witnessing that, he did not know what to do or say and so he just stood there watching awkwardly.

“GET OUT!!!” screamed both Afini and Alaelra when they noticed him standing there watching.

Delamu quickly left the room, feeling tented up and embarrassed.

A few moments passed and Afini said “you can come in now” from inside the room.

Delamu then took a deep breath and went into the room once more.

Delamu was relieved to see Alaelra and Afini out of the bed and fully clothed.

“Don’t you know how to knock” said Alaelra angrily.

“I’m sorry; I wasn’t expecting you two to be…” Delamu cleared his throat, looking for the right words to say.

“We are married, what are you expect us to be doing alone in a room together” said Afini.

Delamu then began to feel his entire body heat up out of embarrassment.

“Did you bring it?” asked Alaelra.

“Yes, I did” said Delamu before he brought out remains of the beast.

“Good” said Alaelra as she took the beast’s remains from him.

“The spell I’m about to do requires a lot of focus and concentration so I’m going to need you two to leave the room” said Alaelra.

Delamu and Afini then left the room to allow Alaelra to focus on the spell.

Delamu and Afini stood outside the room while Alaelra began to cast the spell.

Delamu as he stood next to his friend could not help but smile as he thought about how much life had changed the both of them when not so long ago, back when they were young they were entirely different people.

Back then he and Afini lived a care free life; they were reckless and immature and would often get in to trouble.

Afini back then wasn’t sure of what he wanted and just lived for the thrill of life while Delamu had an adventurous spirit and wanted nothing more than to travel the world, fighting monsters and beasts of all kinds.

But now, Afini after meeting Alaelra and falling in love with her Afini had changed, he was no longer the care free boy who wasn’t sure of wanted, now he was a man who wanted nothing more than to protect the family Alaelra and him built together.

And as Delamu, his story wasn’t so different from Afini, like Afini he fell in love with Ebiera and was happy with her before she died.

Her death left a hole in his heart that brought him nothing but pain and suffering but still she left something he could always remember her by in the form of Amasu, their loving son.

Delamu hated the fact that Amasu took after him and not his mother.

She was always gentle and kind while he was reckless and carefree, Delamu never really thought of the consequences of his actions and the way he lived his life until he fell in love with her.

Before she came along Delamu wouldn’t mind jumping head first into danger.

He was a different man back then, a man who saw life as nothing more than a joke and wanted nothing but waste it fighting beast and monsters.

Ebiera made him see how precious life truly was, she made him fear death because it had the power to separate him from her.

He always thought he would be the one to die first due to the reckless way he lived but sadly that wasn’t the case.

His beloved was the first to go, leaving him with a son that inherited more of his reckless spirit than his mother’s gentle nature.

Alaelra used her magic to connect to the dead beast.

She could sense the dark magic in the beast, it felt cold and empty but yet Alaelra felt something familiar about it.

The dark magic in the beast then began to overwhelm Alaelra.

She tried to fight it but it was too strong for her and so it completely consumed her.

Alaelra slowly opened up her eyes and gasped in horror once she realized where she was.

Tonjurofori Ama, the realm of eternal night.

“Hello Sorceress” said a voice from behind.

“It can’t be” said Alaelra, shocked and horrified after hearing the voice as she recognized the voice.

Alaelra slowly turned around and confirmed her greatest horror when she saw standing behind her was a man looking at her with his blood red eyes and a sinister smile on his face.