Wielders of Magic, Book 2: The Trinity

“Rentham!” Jaden cried, darting past trees and fallen logs as three of the wild men started to pursue. They had come out of no ware, and all he could see ahead was a dark cloud in the sky, promising rain in no more than a few minutes. He hated fighting in the rain.

Jaden turned and tripped one of them, but wasn’t quick enough to stop the blow that went straight to his head; a meaty fist slamming into his dark head of hair. He cursed and returned with a powerful upper cut with his blade, taking the side of the mans face off and stomping on the others neck. There was only one left, and he looked rather young to even be out here fighting.

He looked as if he was going to challenge, but he staid a few feet away, eyeing the new attacker.

“FIGHT ME!” Jaden screamed, on the edge of madness. He had never had someone else to protect before, and now he had to take care of this whole group and find Rentham at the same time. What if he returned and they were all dead? Or worse . . .

Gone.

“What are you going to do? Swing your puny little sword at me? I am a master at duel wielding! What can you possibly hope to gain!? Death is your only reward! DEATH!”

The kid didn’t budge, only sat and stared.

“I hate you people! Your always pillaging! Taking things that aren’t yours! You mock the good and celebrate the evil! You treat your young and wives with blows instead of care, and all you do is sit around and wait for someone to challenge you! The worst part of it is, is that you don’t care at all, if you die or live. You just fight and destroy, because you love it.” He shrugged, tears appearing in his eyes as emotion started to take hold on him. “Go ahead! Kill me! I don’t care! I won’t even fight you, your to young to fight. Just kill me, maybe I’ll meet my father in the after life . . .”

The kid leaned forward a little before squinting his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Fine! You know what!?” Jaden walked towards him, his eyes flashing sliver as his swords whisked around in the air. The boy took a step back, but the assassin shot forward and dug his swords into his chest. He stared at the ground for a moment before drawing them back, and watched as the boys body dropped into the dead, lifeless leaves that blanketed the cold hard earth.

“They are always too young . . .” He sighed and continued on, pushing his emotions back inside his feeling-less persona. After all, you had to have no feelings to do this kind of work. If you got attached to things, they would ruin you once they got taken away.

“The feeling-less survive.” He whispered and ran into the trees once again, calling for Rentham.

“Drusilla, write it down. Tell me what happened.” Rey quickly handed her a pencil and paper, watching as she scribbled words onto it with a slight bit of anger. She threw it back at him and than seemed to crumple into a ball, resting in front of him as she sobbed all of her tears onto the ground.

Rey lifted the papers and slowly read them, trying to decipher her strange hand writing. It read,

He got angry and destroyed my voice! He took it from me Rey! I can’t speak at all! I can’t scream, or sing, or talk to anyone anymore! First it was my wings and now . . . its my voice. What more can this journey take from me?

He looked over the papers and at her shivering form. "Drusilla, I'm so sorry." He whispered, looking around the camp for Blagdon. He kept disappearing, and he didn't like it one bit. The man could be helping with things, but he just sort of staid in the back ground, watching.

What a coward.

"Hey." He turned her over, wrapping her in a blanket that had been laying by the fire. "It will be alright. Once we find the Light, we can destroy them, and than we can live peacefully. You, and I, and Rentham . . . all of us. We will be together, always. You don't have to carry the burdens Drusilla, you let me do that for you, alright?"

She took the pencil and paper and wrote something down again, handing it back. It read,

What do you want from me? What you said in the forest, what you said was that you had started to care about me. I am not paying anyone back with marriage Rey, I don't want to be with anyone. I just . . . I don't know what I want anymore.

"Don't talk about that." He replied, setting the papers down as he looked away. "Forget I ever said that. Forget it. I should of never said that, to anyone, I should of never even thought about it. I don't want you Drusilla, not like that. I really don't want anyone like that anymore. It was just a . . . a thought. I just want someone to be loyal to." He took her hand, staring her in the eye. "I want someone who will never forget me when I am gone. I just want a friend."

Drusilla smiled, squeezing his hand a little.

"I promise you. I will never give up on you. You have always been here, for all of us, and no one has really appreciated that. I am sorry about your voice, and I am sure Jaden is to. Don't think about it. We will fix it, alright?"

She nodded a little and than rested her head against his chest, her shoulders relaxing as fatigue started to set in.

"I love you Drusilla. I would never betray you." He looked into the woods, just waiting for Barbarians to come charging through them. "Come and get me." He whispered to the wind. "You won't ever touch her though. Not unless I am dead before your feet."

Blagdon walked along the dark forest, staring down at the corpse trail that Jaden had left. He bent down and sat beside the teenager, sensing the warmth that flowed in his young veins. "I don't normally feast upon road kill, but tonight is special. Besides, I haven't had real food for days." He pushed the kids head to the side and eyed his neck, becoming colder and colder as his body shut down. "You'll do for now. Once they serve their purpose, I'll have a feast."

His teeth sunk into the boys neck and he sat their, eyes glowing in the night as he drank his blood. It was lukewarm, and he just squinted his eyes in annoyance. It was starting to rain as well, which only added to his agitation.

After a time, Blagdon got up from his "plate" and kicked it, shrugging as it twitched back. "You free range beings aren't as delicious as my usual meals." He looked to the sky and let the rain drop on his face; letting it trickle down his blood splattered mouth to his own neck. His shirt was open for a reason, so as to leave no blood stains. He didn't want his comrades to suspect him of what he really was.

What he and his sister really were.

There was a rustling in the bushes, making him jump back behind a tree with a startled hiss. He sat there, staring as two lone figures left the quickly darkening forest, stumbling across the underbrush and leaning on each other.

"Just a few - ugh! - more yards!" Jaden said, holding Rentham's limp arm across his shoulders. "Come on! We have to get back there before we are caught in these woods!"

Blagdon felt it. His heart was surging, it was thumping for new, living blood. He wanted them, he wanted them more than anything.

"No." He whispered, sinking his claws into the wide tree along with his teeth.

"Rey . . . Drusilla . . ." Rentham mumbled, his free hand holding his side. Blagdon could see it, the red blood trickling down his side, the heat glowing in the darkness.

He bit harder into the wood.

"They are safe! Come on, almost . . . there!" Jaden tugged him along, his own ankle limping as they dragged each other through the forest.

"Better get home safe." Blagdon hissed. "Wouldn't want anything . . . bad to happen."

"You ever wonder if the stars have more meaning than men actually think they do?" Rey asked, staring up at the stars through a hole in his tent. Drusilla sat across from him, reading silently by candle light. She shrugged and than turned a page, clearing her "voice".

"Your right, probably not." He smiled and rested his hands behind his head. "I have never actually talked to someone this much. It feels . . . rather good." He looked over at Drusilla and she smiled, her eyes still on the page. "Man, you just wait until this war is over. We will have so much fun."

Drusilla grabbed her note pad and scribbled a few words down upon it before giving it to him. It read,

You sound like a little child, talking about when school is out. What if we don't walk away?

"We will. For some reason, I know we will." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Do you think Rentham and Jaden will return?"

Maybe. I hope so.

"Me too." Rey looked at the stars once again, staring up into them and making pictures with his finger. "What if . . . they don't?"

She didn't reply, just sat staring at him.

"Drusilla!" A call came from the outside. She shot for the flap and opened it, staring at two lone figures stumbling into camp.

"AH! They have returned!" Rey said and went out with her.

"Fix him." Jaden hissed, handing their leader to Rey as the assassin fell to the ground. "We need . . . backup! They are coming!"

"How many?" Rey asked as Drusilla rested Rentham onto a blanket, calling a book to her. She than turned to Jaden, staring as if she needed something. "Oh no." The dark warlock said.

"What?" Jaden asked, breathing heavily as he tended to his ankle.

"She can't speak. There for she can't heal him."

"Oh name of the gods!" The assassin cursed to the sky, growling like a furious bear. "How do I fix that!?"

"I don't know, but you better find something. I can't heal, I don't study in that field."

"Alright, Drusilla." Jaden sat down in front of her, his deep aqua blue eyes shinning in the fire light. "I know I have been an ass lately, but everything is going to the Abyss and all I can do is watch it. I am so sorry, so please, trust me this once."

The Red Witch scooted a few inches away, staring at him with wary eyes.

"Drusilla, please. Let me at least try." He reached a hand out to her, now staring through his long, thick black hair. "We need your magic. We need you. Let me fix what I have done wrong."

She took in a breath and continued to stare.

"Hey, let him do it." Rey whispered beside her, grasping her hand. "I'm right here, nothing bad will happen. He is right, we do need your magic."

Slowly, she dropped her guard, exposing her neck so the assassin could touch it. He concentrated, his mind going blank except for the task at hand. He had never used this kind of magic before, and he knew that one would normally need a spell, but for some reason . . .

Drusilla pushed him away. "Alright now you fixed me. Get away!"

"What . . . did I do?" He asked, looking at his hands. "How did I-"

He was interrupted by her chanting as she stood over their leader. The healing spell would have to be a great one, because the ebony skinned man was losing a lot of blood, and soul. Whatever he had thrown himself into, it was taking him slowly away to the after life.

"Stay with me Rentham." She whispered, and than said the last few words of the spell, her body glowing with an unearthly light. It traveled from her and surrounded their king, bundling him in what seemed like the lights from heaven.

His eyes turned towards his peopled as he floated into the air, hovering above the ground. His violet orbs stared into theirs, seeming to finally be at peace. "You will triumph, my people, my kin."

"The spell . . . it wasn't supposed to do this!" She cried, fear striking their souls like a jagged blade.

"You will rid this world of the ones that hate, and despise. No, not by destroying them, but by showing them what magic lay in your souls. What can you do with magic, my dear followers? What can you fix, heal and love with magic?" He looked to the sky, and the clouds opened up, leaving a patch of the stary night uncovered. "I can not lead you anymore. It was never my destiny. However, their is a king in your midst, and you will follow him until the ends of the earth."

"Rentham . . . no . . ." Drusilla gasped, falling to her knees as she watched. "Please, do not leave us now!"

"It was not my decision." He choked than, closing his eyes. "It was my destiny, to die before this night was over."

"I can not lead them without you . . ." Jaden gulped, looking down at the ground.

"Do not worry, Jaden, that burden does not fall to you." He started to rise again, going higher and higher into the sky as his followers sat down below, calling for him to return. "I will see you again!" He shouted. "I will see you all in eternity, once your destiny is fulfilled! Fare well my people, my kin, my family! Tell Edowain that . . . I will always love her. I always have, I always will."

"No." Rey gasped, his breath caught in his throat. "Why did that . . . no, Drusilla what happened!?"

"I didn't do anything wrong! It just-" She burst into tears, covering her face with her hands.

"The burden does not fall to me?" Jaden sat, puzzled at the words that he had said. "Than . . . who does it fall to?"

"Oh name of the gods!" Rey shouted to the sky. "Name of the gods why did he have to go now!?"

"Rentham . . ." Drusilla sobbed, her body lurching with the pain that flowed through her veins. "Come back. Please."

"Ready now?" A ragged voice said in the distance. Rey turned his head to see his wife once again, her hand out stretched. "There is no use for this quest anymore. There was never even a use for you. Come with me, my husband, we will walk into eternity together, to see Rentham. To be with all of your fallen kin. Even . . . Jackson."

"NO!" Rey replied. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed at her and pushed past her shambling form.

"Rey!?" Drusilla shouted, looking up to see the warlock quickly exiting camp. "Rey where are you going!?"

"Leave me alone!" He replied, walking straight at a tree. A blast of power moved it out the way and he continued to walk, his power starting to gather around him.

He was angry.

"Rey!" The Red Witch cried one last time, before falling back down to her knees and sobbing. "What did I do wrong . . .?"

"That was terrible. Why did you just rip him away from them so quickly?" Ariana asked, standing behind one of the dark trees as the Barbarians sat frozen behind her.

"Because, I thought it was his time to go. Besides, they need their real leader to emerge." I replied, turning and staring at the terrible wild men. "I wonder if I should erase them . . . or continue their fight."

"These savage people would kill them."

"No, I don't think they would." I smiled and looked back into camp. With a snap of my fingers, they froze; Drusilla, Jaden, and Rey, all frozen in time. The dark warlock had left the camp, but I would find him.

"What are you going to do?" Ariana asked me, running after as I entered the small area.

"I am going to put them at rest." I laid two fingers onto the temples of the Red Witch, and than on Jaden's, watching as a glowing light spread away from my touch and into their heads. "They will sleep well tonight." I left the camp than, running after Rey as Ariana went back to the trees. I snapped my fingers and time started to run for the companions again, while I disguised myself as Drusilla.

"Rey, stop this." I said, running in front of him as his rage pored out of his fingers. It looked like blood, like deep, black blood. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that it could not be healthy for anything in the forest. "Stop the anger, the madness. It will only drive you to your doom."

"You have no idea do you!?" He shouted. "I am already on the edge of madness! Maybe I have already jumped from it and am falling deeper and deeper into myself, loosing the battle with in me!? Maybe you can't stop me!?"

"Rey, calm down." I rested a hand on his shoulder, staring at his flaming red eyes. "Let the fire die. Let the rain come, learn to dance in it. That is what it is for, to build you up, after you have been broken down."

He stared at me, confusion breaking his hard visage. "Why are you telling me this!? Rentham just died! What are we supposed to do?"

"Someone is going to rise up, and be the new captain." I smiled a little. "It's not me. And you heard Rentham say it was not Jaden. Who is left Rey? Who has been here the longest, besides myself? Who knows the pain of magic, both magics actually, and who knows the pain of loss and gain? Who has more knowledge than you?"

He was shocked at my words, and I knew he would be. He had never thought of himself as a king, or a leader. He was always the dark corner, in the lovely house, the forgotten piece of a puzzle.

He was the most important aspect of this world. I knew that he would be, from the moment he was born.

"How can . . . can you know this?" He asked.

I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a tight embrace, whispering in his ear. "Because, I created you."

I disappeared than, blinking away as I left the world. Ariana would soon follow before she was done taking care of the Barbarian army. They didn't need that right now, no one needed it.

My job was done. I could let them lead on, simply telling their story for all the world to know. It was my destiny, my fate, it was bound into their world, and even though I knew it would probably not be read by more than twelve people, I still had an obligation to write it.

It was their story, and I was the only one who could see it.