The War For Vishera ✔

EIGHT: Encouragement

Even though it was during the day and they didn't need any light to see by, Isiah practised with the stone anyway. Every night during their long travels, he had been able to light a fire for them to cook by. He was proud of himself, being able to control the power even a little bit, but there was still a lot of work to be done.

They were taking a break, exhausted from the constant walking. It was starting to take a toll on them all. They would need to find a town soon, with soft beds to sleep in and hot baths to have. He felt dirty and when he looked at his hands, they were covered in muck. He didn't want to know what the rest of him looked like.

Emrick sat in front of him, the makings for a fire between them. Rina and Nerin weren't too far away, practising sword fighting again. He didn't like the fact that someone so young wanted to fight, but it wasn't his decision to make. If Nerin wanted to experience the same violence as him, then so be it. Isiah already knew that there was no way he was getting all the stones without seeing people die.

As long as he didn't hurt or kill anyone else, he would be fine. Thinking about it still left an awful taste in his mouth and a sick feeling in his stomach. He pushed the thoughts away. He couldn't change what he had done, but he could at least atone for it by helping the realm. Doing so meant mastering the thing that had caused him to kill so many, but that meant no more people would die by his hand.

"So," Emrick said, staring down at the stone in Isiah's hand. "How does it work exactly?"

"I'm honestly not sure," he said. "I can feel the power flowing everywhere and I just try to grab ahold of it, if that makes sense, and make it mine. That parts the easy part, it's getting it to do what I want that's a little more tricky."

Emrick huffed in amusement. "You are terrible at explanations," he said.

Isiah shrugged. "I don't know how else to explain it," he replied. The stone was strange and still very unknown to him, how could he possibly explain what it was like to use it? It was like a rush of power flooding through him that he didn't know what to do with, except it was his and, with enough effort, would bow to him. Emrick could only understand if he could use the stone for himself, which he couldn't.

"That's alright," Emrick said with a wave of his hand. "The most important thing is that you practice using it."

He didn't even know how the flames would be useful aside from cooking food. The stone itself already kept them warm enough, they wouldn't need a fire for that. The answer was obvious though, he was meant to hurt people with it. The Beast was meant to be a protector, but he couldn't protect without hurting people.

At least, that's what people believed. He wanted to prove them all wrong. He wasn't going to hurt another soul if he could help it. He would save the realm as he was destined to do, but he would do without any violence on his part. Emrick and Rina and Nerin could do what they wanted, he didn't control their actions, but he would not fight.

As he had every other day, he held the stone tight and concentrated on creating a fire. All he had to do was picture it in his mind and thin tendrils of smoke drifted up between him and Emrick. As with every other time he had done it, pride flowed through him. With enough practice, he wouldn't have another accident like at the Sanctum and the laboratory.

"You're getting a lot better at that," Emrick told him as the fire raged between them.

"Creating campfires is pretty easy, I suppose," he replied, giving the other man a small smile.

"I wish that was true," Emrick said, frowning down at the slowly melting snow. There was something in his expression that Isiah couldn't read clearly.