ILIAS VAN PAYNE

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The skies this morning had a rather strange hue to them. It looked normal, but they had a tinge of every colour swirling among the dark passing clouds.

“It looks like a storm might pass later,” Jaime said as she wolfed down her breakfast.

“It might be a storm,” I said, “might be something else. But it’s something alright.”

“Oh, Ilias, since I’m good with Water Ball now, can you teach me your signature move? I want to be able to shoot Water Cannon too.”

“You have perfected Water Ball. Water Cannon is the natural next step.”

“If you’re going to play around with that spell, please don’t do so inside the village,” Trisha said. “You destroyed half the house last time.”

“We know, Mother. And we're not playing around, we’re training.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll go to where Heloise used to take me and we’ll practice there. That spot is good for destructive spells.”

Since we were heading far out, I dressed in a similar attire to the one I wore when I was on the road. A thick brown robe, heavy leather boots, the satchel Camaro gifted me, and my oversized pointy hat. I had decided to bring my staff and wand as well, wrapping the top of the staff with a cloth and belt to make sure it didn’t attract unwanted attention from people with sticky fingers.

Jaime simply wore the usual clothes she wore. Brown breeches with light boots, a once-white tan tunic under a leather chest piece, and the trusty sword she had been inseparable with hanging on her hip. She insisted her attire was enough, but Mother made her wear a light jacket with the top half lined in fur.

“You two stay safe,” Mother said. “If things get bad out there, come home immediately.”

We said our goodbyes and travelled thirty minutes to the field outside of Gilead. Other than the occasional tree every now and then, the meadow was completely barren.

Jaime sat cross-legged, prepared to listen to me.

“Water Cannon,” I explained, “is a spell similar to Water Ball. There are two big differences. The volume of water and the force it shoots out in. Because of these factors, you will need more mana to cast the spell. More than what you’ve been used to.”

I took off the cloth my staff was wrapped in and pointed it in the direction of the faraway forest. “Water Cannon!”

Water gathered into a ball at the tip of Aurora Ventus before shooting out as a powerful jet that dissipated fifty feet away.

I needed to tune myself to the staff but overall, it was pretty good. It takes so little mana to cast a spell.

“Woah.” Jaime’s jaws were on the floor. “I don’t remember it being that strong.”

“The volume of water and the force is set, but with simple physics, you can fine-tune the spell however you wish.”

She raised a hand. “Will you teach me how to cast incantationless spells?”

“You will learn incantationless spells later on, but not from me. It’ll take you a while before you’re ready for that. Book!” Talking Book summoned in front of me and I had it hover to Jaime. “Here are the words to Water Cannon. Just read them out to familiarize yourself.”

Jaime held out a hand. “Let the power of impact and force flow through my body and conjure into a spout of great strength. Water Cannon!”

She repeated the spell a couple more times but was only able to form the water and not shoot it out.

“This is much harder. How is this your signature spell?”

“I got used to it. Your signature moves with the sword were once hard for you to do, weren’t they? Just relax. Feel the spell. Feel the mana gathering in the palm of your hand. Let it build up then just release everything.”

Jaime took a deep breath, closing her eyes and holding out her hand once more. “Let the power of impact and force flow through my body and conjure into a spout of great strength. Water Cannon!”

On this try, she was able to shoot out a rather impressive jet of water. She then collapsed for a couple of seconds.

“Did I do it?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Yeah, but you passed out. It’s your first time having so much mana flow through your gates at once. You passed out before when we were young.”

“I remember that. Right before you blew a hole through your house.”

“I’ll let you rest a bit before we continue.”

I leaned against a tree, watching the swirling colours in the sky. What should I do?

She drank from a waterskin I kept in my pouch. “What’s up? Why do you look like you’re contemplating something.”

“I am.”

She scooted to face me. “I’m all ears, Teacher.”

“You know how my father left before I was born and how I don’t know anything about him?”

“Yeah.”

“Mother told me the other day that whenever I was ready, we could have a long talk about my father. She said she would tell me everything I wanted to know.”

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“Have you done that yet?”

“No,” I took out a folded piece of paper from my satchel. “But I’ve written a lot of questions I wanted to know the answers to.”

“If you’ve written that many questions, why haven’t you asked yet? You’ve always wanted to know who your father was, don’t you?”

“I do, but at the same time, I don’t. He left me and Mother to do something ‘important’. I’m afraid to learn about him because we’ve been doing just fine without that man. Sometimes not knowing is better than knowing.”

“Knowing is always better than not knowing,” Jaime said. “If I were given the opportunity, I would want to learn about my parents.”

“I know, but it’s almost too easy. All this time, I’ve been wondering who he was—wondering if I was going to find out everything in a grand spectacular fashion. But now, all I have to do is ask Mother about him.”

“You’ve wanted answers, haven’t you? You’re where you are today because we tried to figure out who your father is by breaking into the secret room. That little action is why we’re where we are.”

“So you think I should have the talk?”

“Of course I do. You’re conflicted, but I know deep down that you want answers.”

She’s right. As afraid as I was, I still wanted to know.

The gathering clouds above us began to swirl just above the village.

Jaime’s parents were murdered and the colonel was keeping the truth from her.

I have the opportunity to learn everything through a simple conversation.

I’ll ask Mother about him when we get back.

Back when the colonel told me the truth about Jaime’s parents, I made a vow to tell her. If I was going to tell Jaime, it would have to be now. We were away from the village which meant there was no possible way for someone to be eavesdropping. And if she were to lash out, no one nearby was going to get hurt.

I need to tell her. She said it herself that knowing is better than not knowing.

“Hey, Jaime, have you ever wondered about your real parents?”

“Yeah, but the colonel says I’m not ready to know everything about them yet.”

“What do you know about them?”

“I know that my father was an elf by the name Jannalor Fontoya and that my mother was a terran by the name Delena Florent. They were both colonels in jurisdiction of a town north from here called Thanril.”

Florent? That was Joy’s last name before I married her.

“Before you freak out, my mother’s ancestors were distant cousins with Decan’s Joy,” she explained. “Our blood is so diluted that it’s not even fair to say that we're relatives. The only thing we share is the family name.”

“I’m glad you said that before I could react. But still, you have some of her blood in you.”

“The colonel told me that my parents enjoyed writing plays and would often make their soldiers act scenes out.”

“Do you know how they died?”

“In a battle with a band of outlaws.”

I gritted my teeth. “That’s not true, Jaime. While we were on the road, the colonel told me the truth and he asked me to keep it secret from you. But I believe you deserve to know.”

Her casual demeanor turned serious. “How did my parents die?”

“I’m sure you know all about Scar.”

“Yeah, the serial murderer going around killing higher-ups…” she stopped. I just knew everything in her head fell into place.

“Jaime, when you were an infant, Scar broke into your home and murdered your parents by drowning them in a huge ball of water. They didn’t die in a valiant battle like you think.”

“But…”

“The next thing we know, you were dropped off in front of my house and my mother was prepared to adopt you. However, she was pregnant with me at the time so the colonel took you in. She was going to adopt you after she recovered, but the colonel grew attached and adopted you first.”

“What?..”

“I’m sorry, Jaime. I’m sorry it took this long for you to know the truth.”

“Why did Scar kill them?” she asked, sounding like a lost child. Her voice started to whimper. “What did they do to him?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers.”

Jaime was an upbeat girl, but after learning the truth, she was as silent as the grave—which I found more frightening.

“Ilias,” she said, in a tone of seriousness I never heard from her since our little fight all those years ago. “If I tell you that I want to find this Scar and avenge my parents, what would you say?”

“You haven’t met your parents, but I can tell that you love them very much. Avenging them and bringing Scar to justice is one thing, but I don’t want you to be so addicted to revenge that it consumes you. Scar is a dangerous man.”

“If I asked for your help, what will you say?”

“I’ll stand by your side no matter what.”

“You said swordplay is stronger in close-range combat. Scar drowned my parents in a giant ball of water—which means he’s a jynxist. I will dedicate myself to a life of steel.” She pulled out her sword and pointed it in front of her. “So when I find Scar I will say to him, ’Hello, my name is Jaime Fontoya. You killed my parents. Prepare to die.’”

After a moment, she sheathed her sword back into its scabbard and returned to her usual demeanor. It was so jarring.

“Let’s head back, shall we?” she suggested.

“Hey, this is my day to teach you.”

“First off, we are going back so you can sit down with Auntie and have your talk. Second, look at the sky. It’s so weird that I don’t want to be caught in the middle of it.”

The sky had gotten more bizarre since this morning. There was no sign of a storm, but the grey clouds were swirling recklessly in the sky.

It looked as if it was right above Gilead.

When we got back to the road, we spotted two adventurers on their way to the village just ahead of us. They looked like twin girls in their twenties, though one had blue hair and the other pink.

Soon, a tingling sensation befell my body. The same feeling I got when summoning a spell. Only this time, I wasn’t trying to cast one.

“Something’s happening to the mana in the air,” I said. “I can feel something. Almost like a great disturbance.”

Just then, in the centre of the spiralling clouds, a great light began growing brighter. It was no lightning. It was just light.

“What is that?” Jaime asked, her eyes widening.

The light condensed before exploding and shooting downwards as a beam.

I spoke a quick incantation, summoning a giant barrier above Gilead in an attempt to protect it. But the light shot right through, absorbing it before striking the village.

All I could mutter was, “Mother…”

Everything was happening so fast.

The beam of light expanded when it hit the ground, swallowing up everything in its path until the village was engulfed in its luminescence.

The adventurers ahead of us understood the urgency of the situation and began sprinting away. We followed suit, glancing back ever so often.

The beam of light didn’t stop expanding. This time it was engulfing everything outside of Gilead.

The adventurers were the first to be devoured by the glow.

Jaime fell to her knees, watching the light as if a moth.

“Jaime, what are you doing?! Run!”

She simply stared at the growing calamity that caught up to her before she too disappeared.

I found myself all alone. With a hopeless sense of dread washing over me, I turned on my heels and ran away as fast as I could. I didn’t even think of hiding in the ground or flying.

I just kept on running and running and running, taking one step after the other until I too was consumed by the bright white light.