The Powerholders

Chapter 10:

Malcum stares at the man in the room. The

man appears to be middle-aged and has a strong build that suggests hard work and a lot of experience behind it.

The man has strong refined features on his face which looks like it could have been carved from stone. He has blue eyes and black hair with a beauty spot on his right cheek.

He looks at Malcum for a long second before sitting on one of the chairs in the room. Somehow his presence is not diminished by sitting in the slightest. Instead, now that there is a chair for comparison, he dwarfs any human Malcum has ever seen. Not by physical features alone but in spiritual presence as well. He looks up at Malcum's confused face and allows a small smile to creep through his lips.

"Kid, no boy, you better live up to all the hype about you! Hehehe."

Malcum looks at the large man who suddenly after laughing a little seems more normal.

"Calm down boy, I won't hurt a hair on you. After all I can't let the little Missy here down now, can I?"

Malcum looks at Claudia and then back at him before turning a little red.

"What? What do you m-mean by that?"

"Hahaha, no need to get so red boy I'm teasing you! Hahaha. But she made a deal for you, so at least try to help her in that, since it seems she adores you."

He then extends a hand that easily reaches her head on the bed, where he pulls some hair out of her face and carefully traces her face with his finger.

"I would do anything for this child, and she chose to save you, that places you high on her list of priorities. Which in turn means that you can't screw up or I will make sure to set you straight. Only fools trample on benefits only to watch the wise succeed."

With that, he turns his eyes toward Malcum and stares into his eyes. Malcum, unsure of what he intends to do, suddenly feels a cold air surround him. It bites into his skin and shocks his nerves. He closes his eyes as the air suddenly begins to beat the cold into him at an angle. When he opens his eyes, he is standing in what can only be described as a blizzard and the man he was talking to is now a shadow standing before him in the snowy, icy wind.

"Where is this?"

"This is my soul boy. You are now in the window of my soul."

"Your eyes? This is in your eyes?"

"Yes, I am one of the best Powerholders of this world and in my eyes, I have a blizzard, in my soul a weapon of first and death."

Malcum looks to see the man, but only sees his shadow.

"Did you know that our powers are the products of our souls? And using them is the same as shaping and using your soul. In our souls, we are at the very peak of our powers. So, to limit our powers and control it, we have developed an avatar that acts as a door between the outside and inside."

Malcum sees his shadow grow and gain pointy features on his arms and legs as well as grow much larger in size.

"This avatar would be a representation of our powers and our will to wield them. As such they had to resemble the very beasts who owned these powers."

As he says this he comes into view, a large body as big as an elephant walks out of the shadow. He has the main appearance of a bear with the head of a wolf. His limbs have been extended and end in long sharp tips. His body is covered in fur and his eyes are still blue, but now have a light blue colour emanating from them. His breath doesn’t produce clouds do to the cold, instead it cools the air further and freezes the snow making it ice.

"This is my true and purest form, my avatar. And this boy, is what I look like when at my strongest in battle. Of course, I am not the strongest, and you boy, also have an avatar."

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From Claudia's point of view:

Claudia woke from the sounds of voices but decided to pretend to sleep further as to avoid interrupting them. She could hear Malcum and her father, talking. She felt relieved at hearing Malcum's voice.

"I would do anything for this child..."

What is this old fart saying now? Is he trying to pressure Malcum? He better not, it's so embarrassing already!

"...Only fools trample on benefits only to watch the wise succeed."

What BS is that? I have never heard of it. Are you trying to sound cool now? Seriously? How far out of the loop do you want to look? Did you ever listen when I told you what people like me like and say these days? Just how old do you think you are?

A sudden silence befalls them. She soon realises that it is getting awkward just lying there. So, she sneaks a peak and what she sees shocks and infuriates her. She can see that her father has pulled Malcum into his eyes, and she can feel his body's temperature falling. She quickly sits up pulls back her fist and hits her father right in the middle of his eyes knocking the man over and causing him to fall on the ground.

"Dad, this is not necessary! I said you can trust him and what was al that nonsense you were spewing just now? What was your goal? You only looked dumber each time you tried something new! I told you beforehand what to say and how to act! You should have known..."

She continues for a while as Malcum stares at this extreme change in atmosphere. Claudia the supposed daughter of this man, this big man with big presence and great pride, is being scolded like a grade schooler who just got found out being naughty. He then looks up at her and tries to reclaim his sense of authority.

"Claudia, I was simply..."

"What? Testing him? Wow how cliché. And how dare you interrupt me? I was busy speaking, and our house rules dictate that the one speaking must finish first!"

Malcum looks on as the poor man loses all sense of pride and dignity he had left and suddenly look like a puppy being scolded. Malcum almost pities him, then a sudden thought came to mind.

If this is how Claudia is when she is talking to her father, then if she were to become his wife, would she also one day scold him like that?

Malcum quickly shakes off the feeling and can feel his face redden.

"Boy, yes this is how her mother acts at home as well and yes this is most likely how she will act when she is in a relationship as well."

Claudia suddenly turns around and sees Malcum and how red his face is and with it, she blushes as well before leaving the room.

"Now she's pissed."

And with that the man stands up and exits the room, leaving a red Malcum behind.

"What did I get myself into exactly? I thought my biggest enemy is a monster, but now it seems I like a demon. Interesting and ironic..."