As the two of them travelled the land, they encountered more bandits around villages. More so than usual, which caused a sort of worry to rise within the oracle.
"They are growing bold" the blonde said to his friend, who only nodded his head and stared down into the lifeless eyes of a thug that became known for burning a few villages and robbing them of everything, leaving them to starve.
'And it's becoming worrisome' Aldryn then thought with a frown, his muscle tensing.
"It is not courage that makes them take action" a voice was then heard in the clearing.
The two of them turned to face the newcomer. It caused Klyran to frown, he tilted his head and looked at the man approaching them. He felt strange, something was strange about him, but the Ryan could simply not understand what it was.
'Definitely not human' the black-haired man thought, his eyes narrowing and his hands twitching toward his weapon.
Then, suddenly, Aldryn burst into a fit of laughter, startling his raven-haired companion.
"How long has it been?" the apostle asked, as he begun walking toward the man.
"Almost a year", he said, then his eyes looked behind the oracle and his blue eyes clashed with black. Noticing this, Aldryn quickly introduced the two of them.
"That is Klyran", he said gesturing at the Ryan, but it was as if the other man did not even hear him.
'What is he? Is he dangerous? Should I just take care of him?' both Klyran and the newcomer thought at the same time, while watching each other like hawks, trying to observe every twitch and small movement.
They were both looking at each other, unable to tear their eyes from one another. While one of them was feeling wary, the other could not help but also take notice how different the two of them looked. Despite Aldryn and the new-comer both being blondes with blue eyes, they could not be more different. Aldryn's eyes were light in colour, while his friend's were a darker shade of blue. Even the hair seemed different, the oracle's short blonde strands seemed to be radiant, while the other's long ponytail seemed more greasy.
'Are they related perhaps? Aldryn is not fully human... Maybe half-siblings?', the Ryan wondered while tilting his head. Despite feeling more at ease a bit, his body refused to listen.
"What is he?" the new man nearly hissed in frustration.
"I want to know that too", Klyran said approaching the two of them, unconsciously standing a bit in front of Aldryn to protect him from the unknown creature.
"You are not human" the two of them said in unison.
The air was tense, nearly sparking with electricity.
"I have been walking this earth for many years now, yet I have never met someone like you", the blonde man said, "tell me Klyran, what are you?" he asked, trying to peek into his soul.
"You call me by my name, mind telling me yours?" the Ryan asked, getting a strange feeling.
The question only made the man flash a smug smile, which quickly disappeared off his face.
"I go by many names", he said, looking Klyran in the eyes.
"Ignore him" Aldryn interrupted the other blonde with a wave of his hand, "He is just trying way too hard to imitate someone" he said with a laugh, which caused the other blonde to frown at him.
"To think that so many people fear the Kenman and you children are pretending to be him" the fox suddenly chuckled.
"Imitate?" he nearly shouted, "I am pulling this whole mysterious thing off."
'Yeah right' Aldryn thought and gave him an a blank look.
"What did you mean when you said that it was not courage?" the Ryan interrupted them, quickly loosing interest in this new man.
'And here I thought that this guy might be dangerous' Klyran thought with a straight face, 'This guy is obviously too much of an idiot make cunning plans and do evil stuff', he then decided and chuckled at imagining the unknown blonde trying and failing to conquer something.
Those words caused Aldryn's eyes to sharpen and the merry mood was gone in a flash. He looked at the other man questioningly.
"It's a spell" he said, flicking some of the hair that fell out of his high ponytail.
"A spell?" the oracle repeated and his nostrils flared, "You mean to say that all of those people were enchanted?" he then started looking around at the fallen men.
'No way' Aldryn thought and his eyes flickered around, 'I know that I am bad at magic, but not to this extend to not feel something of this scale.'
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"Don't worry kid... I also don't feel anything", the fox said gently after hearing his host's thoughts, trying to lift his mood.
"Not that kind of spell", the newcommer said waving his hand, understanding the priest's sudden fear of having killed innocent people.
"It appears that our dear Shyra has been around those parts, yet went undetected by us", he explained, "For you to not notice her, I would understand", he said which caused Aldryn to frown his mood plummeting again, while Klyran chuckled not noticing the reaction, "But there is no way that I could miss her."
"So what sort of spells did she cast?" the oracle then asked, deciding that there was hardly any point in being insulted.
"Calling them spells is actually quite a strong word, now that I think about it. Think of it more of unique abilities that you apostles have. A spell of your own creation", the blonde man begun his speech, "It just so happens that Shyra is apparently able to amplify dark emotions."
"Dark emotions?" Klyran spoke then, looking confused between the two of them.
"Yes", the man said nodding his head, "You know....Anger, Jealousy, Greed…stuff like those."
Before Klyran could ask anything else, Aldryn grabbed his hand, with a silent promise to answer his questions later.
"Does it mean that I could also do something like this? Only…you know… with positive emotions", the priest questioned with hesitations.
'Would something like that even be possible though?' the blonde also wondered in his mind, 'My magic is weak... So maybe it's useless to even think about it' he then sighed.
"No idea", he said with a shrug, "My best guest would be that you ask Ylvis. He is one of you and the oldest one as well."
"Where are you going?" the oracle then asked, looking into the direction where his friend came from trying to determine his route.
"Here and there", he shrugged again, "Strange things are going on recently around here."
"More strange than Shyra's apparent new powers?" Aldryn asked, wondering why he only heard about it now.
"I have met Zevram not long ago, so you should be hearing soon from him. But before him, I did run into Shyra for a second by chance."
"Where?" the apostle asked sharply, not even letting him finish the sentence.
"In Ethorim. I ran into her, but was overpowered. There was this other…woman." the man said and glanced down, trying to remember what happened.
"She felt strange", he continued and then looked at Klyran with piercing eyes, "Somewhat like you", this caused the Ryan to become tense.
'Another Ryan?' the raven-haired man wondered surprised, 'Here? Impossible. I would have felt it'. He was sure of it, there was not way that another one of his kin was in this world.
"Like me?" he asked and took a step back, believing that it had to be a mistake.
"But she was not like you at the same time", he spoke again, "She felt cold."
"What does that mean?" Aldryn interfered again.
'Cold?... Dead?' the blonde considered, but quickly discarded the idea.
"I wasn't sure at the time. But I fought them and Shyra escaped" he said with and exhausted sigh.
"And the woman?" the Ryan spoke again, "What happened to her?"
"I killed her", he assured them, "Or at least I thought I did. Right after I struck her down, she melted into the earth. I have never seen such a creature so I wasn't sure if that is how they die. She was sighted by other rangers after our encounter."
After the story, Aldryn turned around to look at Klyran questioningly.
"That is not how we die", the Ryan said looking insulted, which made the other blonde snort.
"I am suspecting necromancy actually" the ranger said then, "The coldness and the way she melted into the earth were pretty strong clues. That is why I went to see Zevram actually. He agreed, but we didn't want to really think that."
'But that's forbidden... For all her wrongdoings she would not step that low' the apostle frowned.
Those words made Klyran even more confused, he was not sure that he could fully understand what the two of them were talking about.
"I think that I should be on my way now" he than said, clasping Aldryn's shoulder.
"If you hear even a whisper you have to tell me immediately", the oracle said and his friend only nodded before he begun walking away from them.
Once Klyran and Aldryn were left alone, the Ryan turned to look at the blonde as if expecting more information.
"Do you want to ask about the emotions? Necromancy?" the oracle voiced out.
"All of them, I guess", Klyran said unsure.
"There is not much to tell. There are emotions that others classify as good and bad. The bad ones usually means that someone will get harmed. For example wrath or jealousy may make someone lose control and hurt another person. While good emotions usually imply something positive, like affection."
He patiently waited his friend to soak in the information and only after he nodded did he continued.
"Shyra, as I mentioned before, is the Oracle of Darkness, which gives her certain affinity toward the element. Necromancy is a dark form of magic. But it is so dark that its not something that is practised."
"Why?" Klyran asked, not understanding what magic could ever do to become forbidden.
"Because necromancy is about bringing back the dead", Aldryn said, causing the Ryan's eyes to widen.
'Don't make those eyes' the blonde thought pitifully, 'If we could bring back all those that we lost, everyone would have done it by now.'
The black-haired man then tried to think of any story or even rumour about one of his kin going missing. He was sure that there was no way that it was another Ryan, at least not a living one. If what that other man said was true, then Shyra must have found a dead Ryan and brought it back, which could explain why he couldn't feel it. He could not understand why it was a bad thing, though. As hard as he tried, Klyran could not understand why it was a bad thing, to bring back someone he loved. The idea seemed appealing, he thought about his parents, then he wondered again why it was considered such a bad thing.
"Magic can do something like that?" he asked the oracle hopefully, which made the blonde frown.
"Yes, but don't even think about it. It takes much skills to do it properly and even then, it is unpredictable. There are many things that can go wrong during the process. One small mistake can tear the soul apart and destroy it. If its forced too hard into a body, it can lash out and kill both itself and the caster. Then, even if its successfully brought back, it is not over. When someone is revived, it is like rebirth. They will have no memory of their past life, no skills or knowledge, which renders them no more useful than a newborn. Not to mention how easily those thing can go mad and rampant", Aldryn explained.
"So why would she do that?" Klyran then asked, as he started walking toward the nearest village, following the sounds.
"It's hard to say. But more importantly, whoever it is that she brought back is a Ryan most likely. Do you know by chance who it could be?" the apostle said, as he started trailing after his friend.
"No. But if she has a Harth, even without memories she would be strong enough to wipe out an army of humans. It seems to me that you were unlucky in meeting me after all. Out of all of my kin who could have been near the portal when it opened, it had to be the only Ryan who is unable to help you", Klyran spoke and gave a sad laugh.
"Don't say that…" Aldryn begun to say, but was unsure how to continue.
"Because everything happens for a reason?" Klyran suggested and started laughing.
"Does your brother says that?" the blonde asked instead, thinking back about their conversation about the Harth.
"He did. When I was younger it would be all that he would talk about. He has that friend, a sort of....how do you call it? A Seer? Yes that. She told him that I was special. That I was born like this for a reason" the Ryan explained, feeling somewhat an idiot for ever believing those words.
'And no matter how much I wish to believe those words... I can't' Klyran then thought while looking at his hands, at the human skin that now covered his scales.
"I don't" Aldryn suddenly spoke, which caused Klyran to glance at him in confusion, "I don't believe much in destiny. I'm not saying that it doesn't exist at all, but it happens so rarely, that when it does, you will not know it until it hits you right in the face. So I don't believe that everything happens for a reason, it just does. My father always told me that destiny is just a word that people use to comfort themselves."
"But you are an Apostle. I thought that your kin awakens from humans. You were chosen", Klyran said, looking solemnly at his friend.
'Chosen? Yeah right' those words caused the blonde to snort.
"I was not chosen. I was cursed. I had to watch every person that I ever knew or loved die, while I lingered and remained unchanged. I fought battles and survived, while others passed on. And every time that I visit the grave of someone I once knew, it hurts. When I see their children grow and have children of their own, it hurts as well. I am not special Klyran, I am just a Mage, and not even a good one at that. I was just randomly picked by the universe. And if I die, another Priest of Light will awaken. There is nothing more to me, than there is to anyone else", as Aldryn spoke, he could not help but feel bad for the words that he said. For all he knew, Klyran might have clung to the hope that there was something more.
"Then why do you continue to do this? Travel the world and make friends? Why not just go somewhere and live by yourself?" the Ryan asked instead, looking the priest in the eyes and it seemed as if he was peering into Aldryn's soul, seeing all his secrets and fears.
"Some of us do that. The Priest of Fire and Water live in solitude and even the Shyra always travels alone, without a care for the rest of the world", the oracle explained.
"But not you. Why?" Klyran continued to push.
"Because it hurts to lose someone, but it hurts me even more to be alone" he replied with a small sad smile.
After that, the oracle said nothing else and continued on their path. They both walked in silence for the rest of the day. Both thinking about their lives. Even the Thrae was unusually silent.