Magical Essence Ch. 03

Thanks for all of the feedback guys! I'm sorry it took so long to get the third chapter of this story up, but I'm going to try to keep them coming as quickly as possible. I know my writing style is a little odd, but let me know if I need to change it! "Dade" will be up soon as well, I have the second chapter halfway finished.

You should definitely ready the first and second chapter before you read this! More comments, please, and make sure to enjoy!

Scene I:Unleashed

The whole ordeal had left Gavin very tired, and several hours had passed before he finally woke up from his deep slumber. It took a few seconds, but everything slowly came back to him, and he remembered what had indeed happened. Meredith was exactly what sent him over the edge, he exploded, and something that Eliza had taught him from the beginning –he had let himself lose it—the emotions took hold, and everything flowed from him like running water through a clear brook. The images of Meredith struggling were flashing through his head, but then, something else had come to him. Ever since Eliza had appointed him as her second apprentice, Meredith had treated him worse, and at all of that had set in.

'She does not care for me as I do for her', he shook his head, 'Why did I bother?' Gavin removed his shirt, and touched the new bruises on his body from the spells that he had taken earlier in the day. He walked up to the mirror and looked into it, turning his body so he could see the scars on his back, they were pulsating a light yellow color. He reached up, placing his fingers along his upper back, and they burned at his touch. His previous Master had used a whip on him at his early age, but when Eliza had first brought him to Tevrin nearly half a year ago, the scars had begun to glow. At first Gavin thought that it might have been the whip used, some sort of binding magical power, but he was getting another impression. Everything related to magic was new to Gavin, but he was not stupid, he recognized it when he saw it. This was magic, but he was not sure if it was his magic.

The cabin appeared in a total haze to him, at first he thought that he was having some sort of an out of body experience, but he realized that the two women were attempting to cook. Gavin groaned, he was not a chef, but he decided early on that he was going to cook the meals when Meredith nearly burned down the cabin. He could not comprehend how they ate before he had come around, but he tried his best to please his Master. Both women turned around as he walked out of his room wearing no shirt, Gavin never walked around without a shirt, but he did not care at this point. He felt a change coming over him, and he was not going to worry about subtle things as explaining to his Master about some glowing scars. He sat down at the table, running his fingers through his hair, for some reason he had a splitting headache.

Eliza was the first to speak, she could see that his was irritated, but in his current state she did not want to anger him. An angered Magi was one thing, it could be managed, handled, and a solution to the problem would eventually be found. But Gavin was different, an angered ArchMagi was something she had only see once, and she did not wish to see again. These were the crucial points in his training—his powers were just starting to grow, like a flower, but they had not even reached their peak yet—Eliza would not be able to handle him if he was to blow up on her, Meredith, or anyone else.

"Gavin, how are you feeling, I heard you gave quite a beating.", she chuckled as she spoke, her plan was not to let him know exactly how powerful he was, yet. She could see that something was on his mind though, but she could not figure out what. "Meredith owes you a lot, since that boy attacked her, and you helped her out."

"Attacked her?", Gavin pounded down on the table, and the room shook. He looked over at Meredith, realizing that she had not told Eliza the whole truth, well Gavin was going to let that out right now. "Attacked her?", he repeated, "She was with them! For the past few weeks I have been dealing with their games, and she was in on it the whole time." Gavin was living in some type of dream land before this encounter had happened, he believed that Meredith was, in some way, showing her affection towards him. But the release of his powers had unlocked something inside of him, maybe more than just what was seen, but it was a realization about the number that Meredith had been playing. He was not going to put up with it anymore, he saved her, but as far as he was concerned they were square now.

Meredith lowered her head, she knew that she was about to get drilled by Eliza, but she deserved it. He was right. She had brought them there, and she had been treating him horribly the whole time. She was a critic of herself though, when she saw what Gavin could do she felt as if she needed to prove something, and she sought help in Jordan. Meredith knew she was a horrible judge in character, but she wanted to impress Eliza.

Eliza turned her head, watching Meredith and immediately knowing that it was true. She shook her head, Eliza knew how Meredith was feeling right now, but she had just turned against her own Master. When they had first arrived in Tevrin, Eliza had warned Meredith about Derek's group of apprentices, mainly Jordan, and how they thought they ran the town. Derek was a bright mage, very powerful, but all he focused on was dueling and attack spells. It was the closest thing that she had ever seen towards the sanctioned teaching of 'Dark Magic', and from what she had seen of these boys, they were going that route. It was not Eliza's place to say anything though, this was not her land, she was merely a visitor. "Meredith I am so disappointed...", a loud banging on the door had stopped her from speaking, and she looked up to where Gavin was standing. 'Where did he go?'

"Eliza! Eliza! Are you there?", Merik yelled as he banged harder on the door, "Eliza open the door!" Merik was a fellow Ambassador from the western coast, and he had been helping Eliza get acquainted with the practices of Tevrin. He was a young Mentor like Eliza, a little older though, but he looked good. Merik did not have any apprentices, because he was considered a new Mentor. Merik had arrived a few months prior to Eliza, and he was fresh off his apprenticeship. When he applied to become an Ambassador, he did not think he had a chance, but Tevrin was considered a "young" town by most, and this was precisely the reason why they sent a young Mentor. It took a year from Mentorship before they were allowed to take an apprentice, and Merik still had a few more months before he was required to do that. He was amazed by Eliza, she was a few years younger than he, and already had two apprentices. But what attracted him the most was that she was a woman Mentor, this was something that even Tevrin had not fully accepted yet.

The word had spread through the ranks that there was a brawl over at Eliza's plot, and Derek had went straight to the Head Magi as soon as he saw Jordan's condition. Derek was in tight with the Head Magi, whom had been his Mentor, and he was widely considered to be the next Head Magi. Derek did indeed not have the full story, the two of his boys were rambling on about something, but he could not believe that his prize apprentice was just taken down by Gavin. As soon as Derek put in the pressure, the Head Magi caved, and they started making their march out to Eliza's plot with some guards. Derek wanted him thrown into jail attempted murder, but even the Head Magi could see through that.

Eliza opened the door, and was surprised to see Merik, "What are you banging on my door for Merik?", she peeked out, "Is Gavin out there with you?" Eliza considered Merik a friend, but nothing more at this point, she was just too overwhelmed with work to start any type of relationship. Her main concern right now was Gavin, and where he had gone off to. She turned behind her and looked back at Meredith, who was sitting at the table with her head down, and she slipped out the front door and closed it. "Merik, we have a huge problem here."

"Tell me about it, Derek is looking for blood now that his poster child has been mopped up by Gavin. He has the Head Magi coming down here right now with some guards", Merik said, looking back up the trail. He shook his head, "Eliza, you know the rules of apprenticeship, he is not allowed to carry a wand around this early in his..."

"He did not have a wand Merik, that's the problem.", Eliza sighed, looking over the garden, and out towards the fields. "Where has he gone off to", she thought aloud, her eyes moved across their whole plot looking.

"What? No wand? Are you even listening to me?"

"Yes, yes, I hear you. I am looking for Gavin.", she paused, Eliza did indeed trusted Merik, and she could not help the slight attraction she had towards him. "Merik, I need your help, we need to get this off his shoulders. He is a lot more than he seems."

"What do you mean? I'm not following you Eliza. You said he did not have a wand with him, then how did he cast those spells?"

She shook her head quickly, and put her hands up, walking out towards the fields. "We do not have the time to get into specifics...", the truth was, she did not want to get into the conversation that he could indeed be an ArchMage. Gavin was found in these lands, and by Magi law, he would be to rule these lands as soon as he chose to do so. He would be considered royalty in most cultures. Eliza did not fully trust the Head Magi, mainly because of his involvement with Derek, but she could not put off the fact that he never once looked for the ArchMage.

There was not one person who could explain how exactly the ArchMagi came to be, but they always seemed to appear when the time was needed for them the most. There was never more than one at a time in a specific area, and they always were sought after for battle and war purposes. There had not been a war in the lands for hundreds of years, so the ArchMagi had taken the roles of government leadership, and that was how it has been for the past few hundred years. Tevrin was a relatively new city, only a few hundred years old, and it spawn after the last war to break up some of the tension between the dueling sides. Tevrin was to act as a buffer between the two, sort of a mediator state, but it ended up becoming a whole new way of life for the people living there. The rules in Tevrin were much more lax than most other Magi states, mainly including multiple apprenticeships, and their Olympic dueling ritual.

She pointed out towards the end of the eastern field, "Gavin!" she yelled out after him, he did not move at all. As Merik and Eliza ran out towards him, the realized that he was floating slighting off the ground, and he seemed to be meditating. Eliza scowled, "I could never get him to do that, and now, look at him!" She looked up at Merik, who deserved some sort of answer if he was going to help her, so she decided to drop it on him.

"Merik, you know my Mentor was an ArchMage right?"

Merik nodded, 'How could I not know?' This was something that had been a main topic before Eliza had arrived, alongside the fact that she was a woman, and the fact that she was probably the quickest single mage to come out of apprenticeship. Eliza was also one of the only people ever known to be an apprentice to an ArchMage. "Of course, everyone knows that, I am not following you?"

"Then you would say that I have first hand knowledge on the matter, yes?"

Merik nodded again, "Where is this going? You are confusing me."

"Gavin", she spoke quietly, nodding towards him.

Merik looked at Gavin, "What about him?", he was just not getting it. To be in the presence of an ArchMage would be considered to along the lines of being in the presence of any type of government leadership body. But to believe that an apprentice was an ArchMage, would be, like finding out that your son was the President of the United States at the age of nineteen.

"He is an ArchMage."

Merik started laughing, he knew that Eliza was known for joking around, but this was going a bit overboard. He looked at Eliza, and his laughter slowly faded, "You are serious?" His eyes trailed and watched Gavin. The aura that was coming off the boy would suggest that he was nothing more than a commoner, Merik shook his head, "No, Eliza, his aura..."

"You have seen him use magic. Think about it."

Merik had indeed seen Gavin use magic, he had taken to it like a fish in water, but the odd thing about him was that his aura had never spiked. Most apprentices' aura spiked when they were in intense training, but Gavin's did not even move. It was like that the training they were doing did not effect him. But still, Merik could not believe it, he shook his head.

"No Eliza, I can't believe it, and I will not back you telling the Head Magi that."

Eliza sighed, she would just have to prove it to him then, and she walked over to Gavin and shook him. His eyes opened up, and he looked up at both Eliza and Merik. Gavin adored Merik, he was a nice guy, and only a few years older than himself. Merik had started stopping by to talk with Eliza about some of the happenings on the council, but his attraction towards Eliza was rather blatant, although he was not sure if Eliza could see it herself.

"Yes Master?", Gavin spoke in a low tone, he had known he sort of rushed out of the cabin while Eliza was talking to Meredith, but he did not wish to hear her explain her reasoning for doing so. So he decided to take a walk, and then he decided to take a stab at meditating, and found that it actually worked this time. He was able to relax himself, pulling his emotions back into him, and leveling his head out some. He had only heard the term 'ArchMage' before when Eliza was talking about her Mentor, but he would never had thought it applied to himself.

"Gavin, quickly now, I want you to show Merik what you can do", she looked at Merik who's face changed slightly, and he looked at Gavin now. Eliza searched her pockets for Gavin's wand, as a force of habit mostly, but then remembered that it was inside of the cabin.

Gavin had already started walking a few paces away from the two of them, he was not sure what Eliza wanted him to do, but he decided to have some fun with it was well. He also wanted to see how he would fare against a Mentor, Merik was a rather strong Magi, and Gavin had a lot of respect for him. He moved into a slight dueling stance, facing Merik, whom did the same. Merik looked over at Eliza who gave a nod, and he just shook his head. But he turned back to look at Gavin, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Merik's eyes searched the field, but he could not pick up Gavin at all, he had indeed vanished! He turned back at Eliza who seemed just as surprised as him, and scanned the fields as well. Just as Merik was about to put his guard down, he caught the sense of spell cast, and put his hands up to block the incoming 'Missile' spell. The force from the block sent Merik sliding back a few meters, but he regained his composure quickly and scanned again for Gavin. Another 'Missile', and another block by Merik, another, and another. Merik was starting to get aggravated, "Gavin! Show yourself!"

Gavin laughed slightly, and he let himself be seen once again. Merik let his guard down as soon as he saw Gavin, and that was when he took the blow to his chest. Merik did not even see the spell coming, let alone hear it, but he was indeed on his back. The all too familiar pain was in his chest, and he groaned as he stood up. Merik was ticked off now, as he did not want to be showed up to Eliza while her apprentice schooled him. He was fighting for Eliza's approval right now.

Now Gavin was not trained in many spells at all, and even though he was able cast spells just by the thought of them, he could not cast spells he was not aware of. Merik uttered a quick incantation, and Gavin put up his blocking spell—but this was something that Merik had planned on—the 'Root' spell took effect. Gavin found himself unable to move as his feet were stuck to the ground.

"ArchMage", Merik laughed slightly, looking over at Eliza whose face seemed transfixed on Gavin. Merik turned around, and his mouth gaped open. Gavin's aura had gone from just barely visible to the height of Merik's own, and still growing! Both Merik and Eliza shielded their eyes as Gavin's aura hit the height of a bright white, at this point he was not even visible through his aura, but just as quickly as it was turned on it winked from existence.

Gavin was standing next to Merik, patting him on the back, "You need to teach me that one, old man. I've never seen that before", and he started walking towards the cabin. The scars on his back began glowing a solid golden color, and both Merik and Eliza watched in awe. The two of them followed Gavin back to the cabin, not speaking to each other, before Merik finally broke the silence.

"Okay, I believe you now."

Scene II:Secrets

Derek had indeed called out the calvary once he found out what happened to Jordan, but somehow he was not prepared for exactly what he was coming up on. His two other apprentices could not explain to him exactly what happened, and he was not exactly sure if Meredith and Gavin were the only other two there. Nevertheless though, he was not about to let this commoner one-up his best apprentice, especially a few months before the Tevrin Olympics.

The Head Magi had called upon a few guards to come with them just in case the situation got out of hand, he did not expect any trouble, and did not expect to arresting anyone today. Even though Derek was his apprentice, he had his doubts about him, and rarely took his words as the truth without hearing both sides. He was not a stupid man, but he was a proud one, and sometimes tried too much to keep that pride intact.

The Head Magi stepped up to the cabin's door and knocked on it lightly. It was early in the morning, but he hoped that everyone was awake already. The door opened slowly, and Meredith peeked out. They had conjured up a simple plan while walking back to the cabin, and had managed to tell Meredith her part just before the mob arrived. Gavin seemed to brush off the plan though, he was different now, but after a little bit of arguing he agreed to follow Eliza's order.

"Oh, sir, my apologies I am not dressed properly...", Meredith spoke quietly as she opened the door, Derek had pushed past Meredith before she even had a chance to finish her sentence. The Head Magi was a little more decent, and followed slowly into the cabin, which smelled of the poorly cooked breakfast food they had attempted earlier on.

"Where is he?", Derek demanded, searching the rooms without regard to privacy at all. He wanted to see this boy, speak with him, and not have to worry about any interaction between Eliza. After Derek had checked all of the rooms, he stared down at Meredith, "He is not here, where is he?"

"They are out back, if you would have asked more politely, I would have told you", her voice was stern, even though she was talking to a Mentor that most people regarded as the the closest thing to an evil wizard as Tevrin legislated. Meredith called out the door as the mob left around back, "Merik is back there with them. They are training on dueling skills right now."

Gavin shouted the names of a few spells, pointing his wand, and sending them towards Merik's direction. He decided it would be best to listen to his Master, and not break the news just yet about what he actually was. Merik proved to him that he was most definitely not ready for any type of real dueling, let alone announcing to all of Tevrin that he was their long lost Arch Magi. He was not ready for that pressure, and he was really not sure if he wanted that pressure. Everything seemed to happen so fast, Gavin barely had a few seconds to himself, and he found that the only time he was at peace was when he was meditating.