Guilt

 The changes in the local flora were so gradual as to be unnoticeable. However, there was no denying it any more. They had come into the strange altered wasteland. The ground was scarred and torn open in many places and what little grew was all dried and sickly.

“Stay together and be prepared for battle,” Ivor said. “Danger can lurk around any and every corner.”

The memory of his deadly encounter with the monsters of wasteland sprung back in Samuel’s mind. Arianwen began coughing.

“This is horrible,” she said. “The smell and all this dust in the air. How could anyone live here?”

“This is just the start,” Samuel muttered. His own mood was taking quite a beating as the memories of the accursed place began springing back up. “You can’t even trust the rocks under your feet.”

What was stranger, was the fact that there was another feeling in the air. Something he hadn’t noticed on his first time in the wasteland. It was as if the air itself was crackling with magical power and even the stones beneath them were saturated with magic. He found no way to explain it. How could this dying land where life was scarce and sickly also hold this great power and be home to both monsters and sentient creatures that were much stronger than any other. Both of his artefacts resonated with the ambient magical energy. After it hadn’t been detected during his admission to the Academy, Samuel stopped worrying about being discovered carrying it. Now he took subtle glances around.

His paranoid thoughts were interrupted by distant howling. It was a sound that had etched itself in his memory. His gut reaction was great fear, yet at the same time he knew that he was no longer the same as before. Even without using the powerful artefacts, his control over magic made him much more dangerous than he had been during his escape from this place. More importantly, it wasn’t just the two of them this time. An entire class of wizard students and several professors stood by his side.

The pack of canines appeared over the crest of the nearby hill. There was a certain amount of panic among the students, with some of them gasping and even trying to run to the centre of the group.

“Keep your formation,” Ivor said. “You are on your own. Try to eliminate the enemy.”

His words didn’t encourage those that had already shown despair at the situation. However, many of the other students were emboldened by this and balls of fire began appearing all over the band.

“Let’s do it,” one of the students cheered. Some of the others echoed the sentiment, though with less conviction.

“Behind us,” Yorath shouted. Of all the students, he was the one who had kept his head cool and surveyed the situation. A second pack of canines was trying to attack from behind.

A chill went across Samuel’s spine. Even if the monsters were relatively weak, a pincer attack could have caught them off guard, leading to injuries or even casualties. Then again, I suppose the professors would have intervened.

He prepared his own ball of fire. It came too easy and he had to hold back his urge to use up all of his limited strength on this one spell. At that thought he looked around the cluster of students to find Madoc and found him grimacing maniacally with a large flame surrounding his hand. Several of the other students recoiled from the dangerous heat. Samuel hurried to his side.

“Madoc!” Samuel called out.

Madoc glanced around in a distracted manner as if he wasn’t sure whether he had really heard something or not. Samuel called out again and made him snap out of it.

“What?” Madoc asked and shook his head. His flame died down to a normal size.

“Madoc, we have to concentrate. We’re being surrounded,” Samuel said and pointed to the second group of monsters. “Don’t use up all of your power on one spell. This might be the first in a series of many drawn out fights. Remember how it was last time.”

Madoc stared back with an angry expression. After a while he relented with a sigh and nodded. Samuel patted him on the shoulder and moved on.

“Get ready!” Yorath shouted his command. His leadership was accepted without question. As the top student he could afford that.

Samuel also got in line and prepared his own spell.

“Wait for it,” Yorath said. As the creatures came closer he held his hand up. “Now!”

A volley of spells went flying. Several of them sputtered out or completely missed their marks. Yorath’s spell hit a canine directly in the face and the monster was knocked from its feet and could only unleash a small yelp before going silent and rolling to a stop. Of the initial six wolves only two remained.

“Samuel!” Madoc shouted. “Take care of the other side. I will deal with these two.”

Samuel nodded. “Let’s go. Come on, form a line.” His shouts rang out but only a few of the students were paying any attention to him. “Go!” The students were still just staring at the damage they did to the beasts. With a surge of anger Samuel summoned a large flame in his raised hand. That made several students wince away but got their attention. “Move, people!”

Finally a majority of the students began following him. The spell had cost him a large portion of his energy, but he was determined not to let it show. He just copied Yorath’s strategy, which made it easier for the students to follow his lead. Arianwen got to his side and gave him a light jab and a wink.

As they unleashed their magic he could see that his own fireball was quite weak, yet it managed to hit one of the targets. It wasn’t a fatal blow but it distracted and hurt the animal. Arianwen’s spell fell to the ground almost immediately and she was visibly agitated by the small failure. She sent another fireball right after and managed to hit the same beast as Samuel.

In a couple of volleys of spells, the pack was taken out before it managed to get close to the students. Perhaps now it’s wizards. Samuel regretted his haughty thought as soon as he had it. We aren’t done here yet. This was the easiest possible encounter.

He looked around to see how Yorath was doing and found that he had not only finished his part but also came to their side to watch over them. I’m still so far away from him. Yorath’s work was flawless and efficient. There was no carnage, both of the remaining kills were clean and done using the minimum amount of necessary power.

“Great work.” Ivor said as the academics rejoined their group. “Especially you Yorath. You were able to take command and executed a flawless operation. You should all learn from him.” He gave a meaningful look to the others.

Samuel felt as if he had lingered on him a bit longer. Yes, I know, I’m not cut out for leadership positions. Even my own gang realised that early on. That’s why we had Jarek.

“Let’s move on,” Ivor said.

They made their way deeper into the hostile lands and dispatched any monster that crossed their way. Despite the land being largely nondescript or rather it was difficult to distinguish between one part of it from another, Samuel was beginning to feel a certain feeling of familiarity.

Ivor ordered them to continue in silence as they scaled a small hill. The gravel beneath their feet threatened to start rockslides. Once they neared the summit, Ivor motioned for them to get to the ground. They either crouch walked or even went to all fours. I suppose all threes in my case.

What he saw next took all the levity from him. Several large pits, serving as mining operations. It was hard to make out people from the distance. Samuel could see it without looking at all. He had to fight to keep his breathing steady and nearly jumped as he felt a hand on his good arm.

“You’re fine,” Arianwen whispered. Samuel looked up and saw her face radiating kindness.

She got even closer to him to where he felt both her breath and her hair tickle his ear. It was a strange sensation and it made him want to cry. He also never wanted it to stop.

“I’m with you. All the way,” she continued. She wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in closer for a short moment that would last an eternity in his memories.

Samuel was glad there wasn’t much to do for the students besides observe the situation. There wasn’t anything a small group would be able to do and the students would inevitably get in the way. He took the opportunity to just sit down and mull over his feelings until the academics decided they had seen enough and signalled for the group to descend the hill. Samuel’s legs were shaking for the first couple of steps then he managed to take control of himself.

At the base of the hill they suddenly stopped as they heard a strange sound. The group went alight with magic waiting to be released. The sound repeated and Samuel was certain it was pained moaning.

“Stay together,” Ivor commanded. “We will take care of this.” He nodded to Carys and another professor.

The wailing silhouette appeared from behind a lone boulder. It was hobbling and barely stood upright. The academics exchanged glances. They split up and approached the figure from different directions. Suddenly the figure stopped and fell silent. Concentrated magic made the air crackle as the academics raised their hands to subdue the apparition.

A blast of energy sent Samuel sprawling to the ground. He let out a pained gasp as he tried to get back to his feet. He was bruised and bleeding from several small gashes. Flashes of fire and lightning left him blinking and cracks of thunder sounded as the academics unleashed their counterattack. It seemed as if the ground itself shook with the released magical energy.

Only then Samuel truly saw their assailant. The figure bore resemblance to a person but was horribly disfigured and mutated. A Cyrhil. The barrage of fierce attacks obscured the villain for a while. To Samuel’s horror, the spells had no visible effect and then another blast of power sent Ivor and the others to the ground as well.

The figure began walking closer and Samuel noticed a second person, dragged along by a chain. Despite his desperate terror he still felt the echoes of his own heavy collar. Then his heart sank even further. Multiple additional Cyrhil forms showed themselves. Each ugly and disfigured in its own unique way.

The first Cyrhil was coming ever closer, however, it ignored the first student it came across and continued. It became apparent to Samuel that the monster was coming straight towards him. He tried using magic but his shaking hand would not obey him. He couldn’t even get to his feet to run away. He was just petrified and glued to the spot. Even if he were to run away, there was no way he could escape his impending doom.

“Samuel.” The raspy voice reached him but Samuel was to frightened to hear what was said. “Samuel.” The repetition made it through to him and Samuel gaped at the monstrosity before him. “You left me to die Samuel.”

Of all the things the deformed monster could say, that was by far the last he had expected. He gathered all his remaining strength to look up at the figure that now loomed over him.

“No.” The word was little more than a weak gasp. The hideous creature before him bore a face he had known for a long time. The resemblance wasn’t completely obvious from a quick glance but beneath the bulbous flesh there was still the disfigured face of his former leader. “Jarek.”

The ghost of his past stood over him saying nothing for a while.

“I saw you die,” Samuel managed to squeeze out from his dry throat.

“Yes, you abandoned me.” The voice was different in every way from the Jarek he once knew. The sound and way of speaking to the choices of words.

But it is him. There is no doubt.

“You left me to get torn apart and eaten by a pack of mutts.” The voice became angrier as he spoke.

“I couldn’t do anything. I was powerless.”

“Yes.” Jarek calmed down once more. He then started muttering to himself as if arguing with another person.

Is he insane?

“Yes, but you went and got the power, didn’t you? You survived and went on without a care in the world.” He then took notice of the missing hand and pointed towards it. “That is the only price you paid.”

While Jarek’s accusations did tug at Samuel’s heart, he also remembered with full clarity that Jarek was the one who betrayed him in the first place and caused him to come to this world and suffer so much. Despite his fear, a hint of anger began rising within his heart. At the same time he was not about to argue with the person who could kill him in an instant. So he bit back his words and tried to figure out a way to escape.

He looked down and looked at the poor person that had been dragged around with the chain, that was attached to a collar around her neck. It was a small girl dressed in torn rags with grime covering her most of her body. Even through that filth, scars were visible all across her body. They were different in appearance but were all long and thin, as if made by sharp cuts. Even her face was not spared from the disfigurement.

Samuel did a double take as he finally looked at her face closely. No, it can’t be. The girl that stared forward with a blank look was another one of his friends. Ewa. There was no recognition in her eyes if she was even aware of anyone being in front of her. As despair gripped Samuel his gaze swam back up to his former leader.

“That’s right,” Jarek said with a conceited smile that threatened to tear his face apart. “You didn’t just abandon me out there. You abandoned everyone. Our gang, our family.” He took a moment to enjoy the situation. “How many are already dead? How many could you have helped if you weren’t so selfish?” Even if Samuel didn’t feel any overbearing guilt over anything bad happening to Jarek, the thought of the rest of the gang ate at his soul.

There was another barrage of flashing lights as the academics made another attempt at their captors. This time three of the Cyrhil that had come together with Jarek were able to deflect the powerful spells and restrain the prisoners. So there is nothing we can do. Perhaps if their professors were alone they could use their powers to escape but there was not way for all the students to get away.

“You don’t seem too bothered about that,” Jarek said. “I always knew you were a cold-hearted bastard.” Then he stroked his chin as if considering something. “Perhaps it is not too late for you though.”

Despite Jarek’s obvious attempt to make it seem as though there was hope for Samuel, he felt only the chill of despair gripping him. Nothing good could come of it.

“Let’s see about your current friends. Are they all okay?”

He knew he shouldn’t have but Samuel glanced around over the faces of his classmates and teachers. He sighed with relief as he saw them all still breathing or even squirming. Madoc, Yorath and Arianwen were all watching him closely.

“I see. It’s one of those,” Jarek said. He drew a dagger and Samuel tried to scramble away. An invisible force held his legs in place. “Don’t worry Samuel. It’s not for you. Yet.” The last part was so quiet that Samuel wasn’t sure if he heard or only imagined it.

Jarek drew the blade across the shoulders of the dazed Ewa. Her face screwed up in pain for a moment and light of reason returned to her eyes. The next moment it was gone even as a thin trail of blood flowed down her arm. Samuel protested all the while and cursed Jarek but was ignored. Jarek brought the blade to his face and licked off some of the blood. Then he held the knife above his chest with the point towards himself.

Samuel was baffled at the display. He squinted and tried to make out detail on the strange exposed skin. From all the strange formations, a perfect circle stood out It even seemed to glow a little in the dim light of the wasteland. A drop of blood fell onto the circle. A powerful wave of pressure exploded from Jarek. It lifted dust but wasn’t strong enough to do more than shake Samuel a little. At the same time Ewa fell to the ground and lay still.

“Ewa!” Samuel gasped. Tears stung his eyes and he fell to his knees.

Jarek didn’t acknowledge anything that had happened and began making his way towards Yorath and Arianwen.

“Let’s see. Where do we start?”

Several balls of fire began appearing all around him. Despite their small size, Samuel knew by instinct that they were far more powerful than any he was able to produce. Jarek stood over Arianwen.

“What are you doing?!” Samuel screamed. “Stop!” Desperation coloured his voice.

“This is all your doing Samuel,” Jarek said in a calm voice. “You always cause your friends to die.”

Samuel kept screaming and crying in pain and despair. Please do something. Anyone. Please help. He felt heat and vibrations against his chest. He was confused for a moment then realised it was the amulet he had been carrying all this time. He dug it out of its hiding place and held the chain in his hand. Please. I will do anything. I will give everything. Help me. Nefara, if you are out there please just give me power this one time.

He pleaded with the amulet as he watched Jarek prepare the fireballs to kill his only true friends. There was already blood coming from the wounds in his hand. Please let this work. He didn’t really know whether he believed in the eternal magical beings that they had learned about in the Academy. At the moment he didn’t care.

Samuel yanked the chain of the amulet and it flew towards his blood covered hand. He squeezed the strange necklace in his fist. In that moment he felt as if his mind expanded and he saw the entire world beneath him. The feeling of power overwhelmed him and he saw both Jarek and some of the prisoners turn towards him. All he could remember then was that there was a great explosive release of power and everything faded to black.