20

The spear engulfed in flames and disappeared. Did I fail? I looked apprehensively at Endar, he still hadn't regained consciousness. He might be badly injured and I had to get him out of there.

Then the spear came out.

She was charred and dragged with her something shiny that fell to the ground.

Suddenly the flame began to flicker, then to my great despair to grow. That's not what was supposed to happen, I thought.

The flames flickered more violently at the highest point of the flame. Then a head seemed to slowly pop out of the flames like a turtle's head emerging from its shell. He had managed in a moment to become more terrifying than he was before.

Its head was an indistinct cluster of flame with three horns. If any of them touched me, nothing would be left of me but ashes.

The spirit raised its head and howled to the sky, dispelling the clouds that had gathered above it. Then he turned to me and spoke.

Wh.. ar u ?

I fell to my knees at the sound of his voice. An unbearable pain ran through my skull. It was a headache from hell. When the pain seemed to start to dissipate, he continued.

Fre…thk..u

“Stop, stop, please. You are going to kill me like this. » I moan

This seemed to have its effect, since he stopped talking. Suddenly, the flames diminished, until only a medium sized ball remained in front of me.

You will do

I barely had time to be surprised by this childish voice when the ball rushed towards me and entered my body. Aella rushed after him.

It was not planned

What... just happened?

Like I said before, a spirit doesn't need the summoning circle to bond with a mage and that spirit seems to have decided you'd be good enough for them.

Once again, the spirits had decided to play a trick on me. Isn't that what some called being at the mercy of the gods? But at least I had managed to save Endar, so the conclusion of this adventure seemed positive to me.

I wouldn't rejoice so quickly if I were you.

Aella's voice sounded worried

Remember the last time you bonded with a spirit. I was already a powerful spirit. But this one beats me.

What do you mean ?

If we don't find a solution soon, the essence of this spirit will consume you.

I was in the middle of the forest, my teacher was unconscious and I was dying. It was indeed a perfect day.

After taking a few seconds to curse fate, I attempted to revive Endar. Aella said it well, I needed a solution and Endar was practicing healing magic. There had to be a solution to this problem. But unfortunately, the water bubble that surrounded it seemed to be impenetrable.

What can we do ?

Endar certainly carried a talisman with him. He saved him and he continues to protect him. This talisman must have been very powerful to keep him in this state for so long. We have no choice but to wait. Your magic is exhausted, and if an ancient spirit has failed to destroy this protection, we have little chance of succeeding. I advise you to try to reach the village as soon as possible. The effects of the link will appear soon. I try to contain the energy as long as possible. But I can't go on forever.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I had to get out of this forest as soon as possible. But how to move Endar?

I attempted to use the essence of air, but winced in pain after the attempt. There was only one thing left for me to do. Wait.

I gained height and sat down on a branch. Watching the bubble shrink slowly, too slowly. The time was long, I ended up asking Aella questions to distract myself.

How does essence turn into spirit?

There is no distinction between the natural essence and the spirit. But I would say that a spirit comes into existence not when it can take on a form as some people think. But when we become aware of being something other than a single entity. Because before being a spirit, we are united with the essence, our thoughts are only one, our desires are only one. But over time, we detach and become aware of our own existence. We are the essence but also something else. Something that has its own thoughts, its own dreams. But this comes with its own disadvantages. We need physical essence to grow, which was not the case before.

A spirit has dreams?

Sure. This is not surprising. Just like humans, elves or dwarves dream of wealth, happiness, adventure. We spirits dream of evolving, of becoming as powerful as the spirits of the lost continent.

Again this lost continent. Do the spirits know what is there?

No, we just know that when we reach a certain point in our evolution, then we are able to access it. But the spirits that cross the border never come back. At least I thought so until now.

The spirit of fire came from the lost continent?

It has been a long time since I took shape, and I have met many spirits. But never one as strong as this. I wonder how he managed to cross the bloody sea?

The bloody sea separated Eteryddyn from the lost continent, but no one had ever managed to cross it. Now I knew the spirits could. But why only them?

Maybe it has something to do with it

I took a shard from my pocket. There were no other words for what I held in my hands. I had found it near the spear. The shard looked like a small piece of broken glass. As if we had taken a mirror and smashed it into a thousand pieces. The shard reflected my ice blue eyes, when I turned it over I saw curves had been etched into it. They had no meaning, and for me only brought an aesthetic quality to the object. But I knew it wasn't that simple. If this shard had allowed this spirit to cross the bloody sea, then maybe it was a key to reach the lost continent. Unfortunately, this shard had made its bearer mad with rage. I was going to have to wait for more information before daring to venture to this continent. Yet there was something in me that had awakened since I had heard of this continent. I knew that I would have to go there one day, not tomorrow, not in a few months. But one day I will tread the soil of this continent. It was a certainty.

Taylor, look out, I can't...

Aella's voice disappeared, as I closed my eyes and fell.

Endar! wake up ! I thought before losing consciousness.

The following days were blurry. The fever engulfed me and I could not distinguish what was real or the result of a hallucination.

I opened my eyes to see a fire, I felt a hand rest on my forehead to cool it. A voice whispered in my ears, amethyst eyes...

“Hang on. I won't let you die. »

Then this voice vanished in this prison, alternately burning, alternately frozen. I felt someone slip a liquid into my mouth and I sank deeper into the darkness.

There was always in the corner of my eye, this emptiness, which moved closer or further away But I knew that if it took me, this life would cease and I would be led again in the great parade of souls.

Then a familiar voice joins the others.

"Kid, I'm here now. You don't have to leave me. I felt tingles and my eyes snapped open. I looked around me.

This room… I recognized it.

I watched the familiar figure sitting beside the bed. I tried to speak but my dry throat only let out a moan.

“Taylor!! »

I tried to speak again and barely managed to say that word.

" Mother. »

She took me in her arms without waiting. My heart sank in this embrace that I had missed so much. When my mother pulled away, I could finally observe her. She had not changed and her beauty shone as always. She glanced at me. Was it because I was awake, or because she hadn't seen me in many years. Maybe a bit of both.

“You have grown so much my little elf. I missed so much…” she said in a half-happy, half-bitter tone. I imagined that the separation had been hard for her who had thought of raising me longer.

" I am happy to see you. But what happened? »

Thousands of questions swirled around in my head. What had happened to Endar? How long was I unconscious? Who had brought me back to the castle.

“Your teacher brought you here. He took care of you while you were unconscious. This time it only lasted a month. Certainly because of the care he has given you. But Taylor… he didn't come back alone,” she said with a note of concern

I was relieved to know that Endar was alive. But I couldn't decipher the expression my mother wore, perhaps hesitantly. What was happening?

“Who is with him? »

“He..he brought back half-elves. »