Everlast

Chapter 20; Lessons learned.

Time passed, and the while the outside world brought forth the warmth and life of spring, the elven wood was surrounded by the glory of summer, with warm twilight evenings and pleasantly cool mornings.

It was during those few months that Ajay found himself enjoying the beauty of Adoras and the friends he had managed to make, in spite of him not being good at making friends or talking to people.

He played fae games with Thistle, chasing her through the woods as her shrill laughter echoed through the trees. He listened as Dagon told ancient tales of glory of the goblin kingdom or funny misadventures of his one odd uncle. And though no one admitted it, Ajay could tell that the rest of the questing party was warming up to the goblin. Even Jareth, who had been speaking to Dagon more often, sometimes even taking him on walks through the forest when the goblin was tired of being tied up. It was still a long way from friendship, however, and whenever Ajay could he would bring both princes together and the three of them would talk of meaningless things until Dagon had them all laughing with his sarcasm and wit-- which was matched only by Jareth.

And when it came to Emmer, Ajay focused on the sword techniques she taught him, every once in awhile matching her in skill when they fought one another for practice. Besides that, he decided to get to know her a bit more as a person--seeing as how she had never really opened up to him before-- and would ask her questions. 

As it turned out she had a lover by the name of Syren back in her homeland.

This last bit hurt Ajay's soul ever so slightly and it was then that he decided that perhaps it was time to give up his school-boy crush. For good... or at least as long as he could help it.

"Do you miss him? Syren, I mean?" Ajay asked carefully.

Emmer gave him a look that nearly broke his heart. Her eyes were filled with longing. "More than you could ever imagine."

"So why did you leave him?"

"Because protecting the Chosen One is something I believe in, and bringing peace to the land is all I have ever wanted in my life. Doing this... it makes me feel whole. Complete." she paused for a moment, "Also, Jareth can't be trusted with a Chosen One. He always messes things up."

The only thing harder than all that was training with Grimble.

In that time, Ajay would awaken early in the dawn and run with Jareth through the woods, laughing as the Nightling teased him about how slow he ran. But eventually, Ajay's body grew strong; his arms and legs toned from months of running, his lungs no longer giving way when he sprinted through open fields or crowded forest.

The most difficult part, however, was the magic.

Ajay trained for hours on end, even waking in the middle of the night to practice the elements that gave him the most trouble-- mainly earth and fire.

At times, Grimble or Jareth would help him; one yelling at him that he was not doing it right and the other cheering words of encouragement as he managed to summon a wisp of flame from his fingers.

"I can't do it!" Ajay complained as the fire orb in his hand extinguished into nothing. Again.

"I've noticed."

"Jareth, you're not helping."

"I've noticed that too." the Nightling prince then shook his head, his brown bangs swishing against his forehead. "Fire magic comes from your core. It's similar to Elder magic in that way."

"And thus meaning it is nowhere near as superior as air magic." Dagon called out from where he sat with Thistle at the edge of the training grounds.

"Don't be absurd. We all know your air come from between your ears." Jareth replied, smirking as Thistle proceeded to laugh histericaly while Dagon pouted like a small child.

And thus Ajay tried again, filled with that same determination he had had not long ago. He could do this. 

For hours on end, Ajay would stand in the center of his training grounds, his eyes closed, his breathing steady, and his body walking through the motions of manipulating the elements. It was almost as if it were a dance of some sort-- a dance involving fire springing from one hand and water from another while air swirled around him in vicious torrents, and the ground cracked beneath his feet. This was the sort of power that he had once craved as a child and now it was more than he ever could have wanted. Nevertheless, he managed to be quite fluent in the elements by the end of spring, and though he still had quite a lot to learn, Grimble said that perhaps he knew enough of this sort of magic. Thank goodness.

Yet it was not long until he moved to Elder Magic.

And as the summer waned on, the evenings warm and filled with the whispered chants of spells, Ajay grew in power. His mind connected to Elder Magic much easier than elemental, and even Grimble was surprised when he managed to pull off larger spells than he had anticipated.

It was frightening, really, how quickly the magic came. Almost as if once it had been given that initial shove into existence, the natural laws of Adoras dictated that Ajay must have been BORN for Elder magic. And try as he might to escape it, he could not stop the torrent of power that coursed through him as if it had always been there.

For awhile, Ajay wondered if it just meant that he was simply an awesome individual. However, once he told Dagon of this theory the goblin replied with, no, he wasn't. It was just a side effect of being the Chosen One.

"You don't honestly think that the gods would put you here with no power to aid you." he scoffed, "All the Chosen Ones before you have had imense power though most of them had not an inkling of an idea on how to use that gift. That's why they're all dead."

"You had to tell me that now?"

"Someone had to."

Other than that, Ajay rather enjoyed being the Chosen One. He COULD do this. He simply needed a bit more time and he HAD time...

Up until he didn't anymore.

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