The Beast Within

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Another hush fell over the place, everyone expectant.

Ceraun however was lost to himself, rage simmered under his skin, it was all he could do to not kill them off.

He scoffed to himself, like he could even do that, he would only get himself killed and if he was lucky, his family and only friend.

It was still hard nonetheless to get his emotions under control, now that his curiosity had been satisfied, all that was left was the acrid feeling of hatred and helplessness.

Ethel stared on expectantly, her father looking increasingly nervous, Chester as usual paid no mind to the ongoings happening around him.

Ceraun kept his eyes fixed to the hard ground, a fine layer of dust over his patched, coarse leather shoes.

He would not be surprised if the dust equally spread to the other parts of his body, he had been in the middle of training before they had to come back to the Town, not to mention that they had run the entire way back.

His fist clenched and unclenched beside him, he did not care for the crowd or the amount of people that had their eyes fixed on him.

He was more troubled by the implications of Haneul's words, the words of the carriage driver helping none.

He had just met his first set of non-Mages apart from the soldiers that had now become an integral part of their daily lives and he was fully ready to raze their Towns to the ground.

They were a pretentious sort, who felt justified in their cruelty just because Mages were different from them or…

Maybe…

Maybe it was because they were terrified of Mages, that had to be it, they were terrified of what Mages could do with their powers so they decided to oppress them, grinding them down into the hard ground and dust underfoot.

He could now feel the crackling of magic between his fingertips, his fingers flexed, fists clenching and unclenching again, he could definitely not kill all of them at once.

Sadly, he was not powerful enough but he could dispose of Ethel before he was taken down, the rush of adrenaline that pumped to his bloodstream at this thought was enough to make his plan sound halfway logical.

Adrik as usual was always one step ahead of him, uncaring of the crowd around, he called out dryly.

"Oy! Feyrer! You'll scorch off all your hair at that rate." He said, referring to how he always pointed out that Ceraun's head smoked with his foolish thoughts.

He snapped out of it, the consequences of his drastic plans weighing heavily on his soul.

How could he be planning to do such a thing?

Had he learnt absolutely nothing from his past actions?? How one simple act could cause grave consequences? Especially for people undeserving of it, innocent people.

His shoulders dropped as the tension bled from his soldiers, his fists unclenching for the last time.

Lord Edbert was already starting to look impatient or perhaps he just wanted to get out of the scorching sun to the safety of his carriage.

Ethel however remained calm, if not for how tightly she gripped the skirts of her dress in a small, daintily gloved hand, Ceraun would not have been able to tell of her nervousness.

He put out a hand and let his magic flow, it was muted, calm, much like his outward state of mind.

He still felt like raging but the thought of a random innocent Mage being killed for something he did was enough to make him easily tamper down his temper.

Lighting crackled between his fingertips, making the crowd that was gathered let out hushed breaths, swarming in closer.

Ethel also moved closer, unconscious of her actions, like she was pulled in by his show of magic.

Her dead eyes lit up, her gloved hands coming up to her face, she absently took a couple steps forward in his direction before her father securely latched onto her arm, keeping her in place.

After a while, Lord Edbert's anxiousness could no longer be held at bay and he slashed a hand, face red.

"Enough of that now!" He half cried, tucking his daughter close to him and backing away.

Immediately the carriage driver hoarded him roughly away like he was a wild animal, using the edge of the horse whip again, harsher this time.

Ceraun closed his fingers, his magic dissipating and he could almost swear that he saw the light go out of Ethel's eyes again but they were already being hoarded into the carriage.

He hopped back, out of range of the carriage driver's reach because he could not trust himself to not try to stun him unconscious, hopefully dead.

He deserved it for taking the whip to the Mage children, he wondered how the carriage driver would feel if it were his own children getting whipped.

Adrik and Haneul were waiting for him where he left them and in the chaos that ensued from the non-Mages trying to get out of Thrika peacefully, and the Mage children clamouring after them once more, they disappeared into the cluster of huts.

It was too late in the day to make the journey back to the river bank so instead they wandered to the top of the slope, which heralded off the uninhabited parts of the Town.

Silently, they all sat on the hot, dusty ground, staring down into the cruel land that had been forcefully made their home.

Ceraun was still restless, there was so much waiting involved before he could finally get to where he wanted to be.

There was still too much to be done before he could start to save the Mages just like he wanted to.

It seemed almost impossible to do, too great a goal to achieve.

The sun was starting to get low in the sky, bathing the sky in a red hue, casting a similar shade onto the rocky terrain below.

If Ceraun listened hard enough, he could almost hear the constant flow of the river, like his determination, it was endless, ever present.