The Beast Within

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

Her magic was incredibly powerful especially for one so young and blue fire was a very rare type of magic.

Auris squealed from the shock and the heat while Laith also screamed in surprise, she obviously had no control over her powers.

Noelani was quick to bring it all under control though, she had Mist Type Magic which wasn’t very useful unless you perhaps had a garden but it was enough to put out the fire with very little damage done.

Laith jumped into Noelani’s arms when the fire was put out, shaking slightly. “I’m sorry, I did not know it would get so big.” She apologized, hugging Noelani tight.

“It is alright, Laith, you did good.”

Auris got to her feet to cheer her up as well to lift her spirits.

“Blue fire.” Adrik whispered.

“Pretty impressive too.” Haneul tagged on.

“And hot.” Auris winced.

“That was my mother’s magic type.” Ceraun said in a quiet voice, stepping closer.

He had tied up his hair again so his scar was on full display which was the first thing that caught Laith’s eyes.

“It’s pretty.” She mumbled, pointing at his scar.

Ceraun was taken aback, no one had ever referred to his scar as such. “Thank you.” He replied politely, going down on one knee beside her so they would be at eye level.

“I have one too.” Laith perked up again, the fire incident long forgotten.

She balanced on Noelani’s legs to show off her scar as well even as everyone looked on expectantly, she picked the edge of the ragged tunic she had on and dragged it up just above her knee to reveal a particularly chilling scar.

It was jagged as much as Ceraun’s was but instead of the sea blue glow that Ceraun’s scar had to it, there was a swirly darkness like it was trapped just underneath her skin.

Auris’s gasp was the loudest of all, her usually bright face darkening noticeably at the sight of it, attracting everyone's attention to her.

No one spoke a word, watching intently as Auris reached out a shaky hand to touch the upsetting scar. “It hurts, doesn’t it?” She asked in a feather soft voice, with a tone that belied the fact that she already knew the answer.

“Yes it does but mostly at night.” Laith’s voice was as clear and bright as her laughter and she was well articulate for how young she was.

Auris let her magic coat her hand which glowed softly and placed it over the swirling scar and Laith took a deep breath, no doubt feeling relief.

When Auris took her hand away, the scar was still there, it was just slightly different, the darkness stilling.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.” Laith exclaimed in amazement.

“How did you know what to do?” Adrik asked curiously.

Auris’s response was to gather the bulk of her hair in one hand and tug down the neckline of her dress with the other.

The resounding gasps this time was much louder, Auris had a scar identical to Laith except hers was much horrific.

The scar wrapped around her slender neck, maring the skin there, it had jagged edges where her skin was a raw red, the dense mass of darkness a chilling sight against the pale skin of her neck.

It was as thick as a rope necklace and looked as uncomfortable as one too.

“Shadows.” She whispered, dropping the weight of her hair to wrap a comforting hand around her neck which glowed with her magic.

A deathly silence fell on the hut as they waited with bated breaths to hear what Auris’s next words would be.

“They came in the dark of night, our small farming village didn’t stand a chance.” She recalled, slowly settling on the ground again, without her cloak, her arms were bare from where she had torn them at the start of training and her skirt was ripped, portraying a vision which was much different from her usual self.

“With magic that was not fit for battle or powerful enough, perhaps from centuries of farming, there was no defense against the magical creatures, they wiped out the entire village in a single night, I was only able to survive because of my magic.”

She shook her head at this point like she was getting rid of clinging memories. “In the morning, passing non-Mage soldiers found me and I was brought here with people from other villages. At first I wore the cloak to hide my scar but my magic got more powerful after the night that I used it to fight against the shadows and my eyes turned this way so I just left the cloak on.”

Ceraun blinked as the implications of Auris’s words sank in. “You single handedly fought an entire army of Shadows at night when they are rumored to be the strongest?” He blurted out, awe filling his empty eyes.

Auris’s eyes widened like she had not thought about it that way and was just realising Ceraun's words. “I suppose so.” She shrugged.

“Laith?” Do you remember what happened to you?” Noelani asked, helping her to tug down her dress.

“Yes, the Shadows came to our village too, it was late but mother woke me up…”

“Mother?” Haneul interrupted her.

“Hush up, Haneul, let her finish.” Noelani scolded gently.

Haneul’s ears reddened, looking away as he listened.

“Come on, go on, we are listening.” Noelani urged Laith who had gone silent.

“Mother woke me up that we had to leave, she lit our biggest lamps which were only for special days and pushed one in my hand. She held my other hand as we left.” Here she paused to take a break and Noelani was seriously considering the assumption she had made about Laith’s age.

“The other villagers were all running too and there was a lot of shouting and crying, I did not understand but mother was there, holding my hand and that was all that mattered.” She curled up into Noelani at this point, sighing heavily.

“Then it started to rain, heavy winds and drops of water that stung from how hard it fell, everybody's lamps went out and that was when the nightmare began. Mother threw our lamps away, carried me in her arms and continued to run, I did not know how she could see for it was so dark and the rains heavy, there was screaming all around us but mother managed to make it far when they came.”