Soul of Magic (Soul of Magic Book 1)

FIVE

The last thing Lucian expected to happen to him was lying on the ground with a face full of dirt after being kicked in the groin by the very girl he'd rescued. But that was exactly what had happened.

The surprise had outweighed the pain when she had suddenly kicked him, not that the former wasn't there, the throbbing between his legs was a testimony to that. "Why the hell didn't Ghalador warn me about this kind of possibility?" he groaned to himself as he finally recovered enough to get back on his feet.

Truth be told, it wasn't exactly a coincidence that he had come across the girl in that area. In fact, his mission was specifically to find her. Lucian had been recruited and trained by a man, Ghalador, to find someone he had said was important to the world of magic; her. And so, he had been on the road for almost a month, armed with a magical compass that had been given to him by his recruiter and told very strictly to find her.

But prepared as Lucian was for anything that could happen to him during the course of his quest, he never could have imagined in forever that that thing would include the very girl he had spent such a long time away from home looking for almost crippling him with an inexplicable kick and running away after he saved her life.

"Now, to find out which way she took," he said, bringing out his trusted compass that immediately began to hum with energy and pointed east.

Without wasting any time, Lucian grabbed his backpack, secured his sword in its scabbard and began to run after her. It didn't take long for him to catch up with her. She definitely wasn't very quick on her feet, or maybe just tired from her earlier ordeal. "Wait!" he shouted as he ran after her but she didn't stop. "I only want help you, I swear."

Kyra had known initially that her stopping to rest by a tree side would cost her, but even she couldn't have imagined that the boy would catch up with her that fast. It was like he was using magic or something. He kept shouting for her to stop but she didn't. Why in the world would she want to stay and chat with a boy who had dealt with two able-bodied men as if they were nothing but a bunch of novices? She wondered with a vehement shake of her head. She would really have to be insane to do that; and she wasn’t.

She took a quick glance backwards and immediately regretted it. He was gaining on her, and quickly too. She began to panic and increased her speed; at least, she hoped she did.

Lucian knew the exact moment she began using magic. One moment, everything was fine, the next, a strange energy suddenly filled the air like a feeling that just wouldn’t go away. And then out of nowhere, roots began to trip him where he could have sworn there were initially no roots.

Not so long after, a tree branch suddenly appeared in Lucian’s front and he ran right into it, the impact so strong that he lost orientation and he fell to the ground as a result of what the girl did to for the second time that day. "This is obviously not going to work," he said as he laid on the ground, panting heavily in a thicket of vines which seemed to be growing thicker by the second. All of a sudden, he shouted, "Kyra, just stop!"

Kyra froze in her steps as she heard her name emanate from the boy's lips. She turned back to see him struggling in a field of vines, he seemed to have gotten himself thickly entangled in the plants. But his present predicament was the last thing on her mind. "How did you know my name?" she asked, arming herself with a stone just in case he turned out to be a creep like she had suspected.

"Ghalador told me," he replied.

"I don’t know any Ghalador," she said, still not letting go of the stone.

"He doesn't know you personally either," he replied. "But he's a seer and he tasked me to bring you to him. He said that you have a great destiny ahead of you, one that involves the world of magic itself."

Kyra's heart picked up pace as she heard him say those words. Someone somewhere wanted to meet her, and help her too. Of course, she couldn’t disregard the possibility that it could all be a trick and she would end up with a sword in her gut. But even at that, she realised that it was something she still wanted to explore.

"Alright," she said, finally dropping the stone and moving closer to him. “I believe you.”

"Thank you," he replied with a smile, one that Kyra had to admit was dazzling. "Now, can you please tell these vines to get the hell off me?" It was then that Kyra realised that the vines were a little too thick for that area; she had unwittingly done her magic again.

"I'm sorry but I don't know how to control my magic," she said, suddenly feeling ashamed because of it.

"Oh!" he gasped as if that was the very last thing he expected to come from her. "Alright then, I'll help myself out." He reached for his sword and quickly cut himself out, jumping away before the vines could reach again.

Just as the boy came nearer, Kyra saw the strange inscriptions on his sword's blade; plus there was a strong strange energy coming off it that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t felt for what it really was earlier. "Your sword's magical," she said, very surprised; she’d never seen a magical weapon before. Or anything of magical origin, for that matter.

"Yes," he replied, bringing it up for her to have a closer inspection. "I call it Lionclaw. Ghalador gave it to me and it allows me to be able to fight with the strength of ten men."

"Just ten?" Kyra said and he smiled, almost like he found her unimpressed attitude amusing.

"I have a feeling you and I will be fast friends, Kyra," he said, still smiling. "My name's Lucian, by the way."

"So, Lucian," she said. "When can we be on our way?"

"Anytime, you're ready," he replied and immediately, two horses appeared out of thin air. "Ghalador said I'd get the ride back after I found you."

All the fears that Kyra had been feeling for years suddenly evaporated at the possibility of what laid ahead for her. She was going somewhere that she was truly wanted, she realized with a smile, she was going home.