Ahir becomes a Sorcerer

"This is actually a huge leap forward from the last bit of Ahir's backstory, almost a decade, and then the next bit is even further into the future. The reason for this is that I'm really just trying to get to the point where he's all grown up and his son Zared's story begins. Thus I only covered what really needed to be covered." -Casey

“Do you realize what you’ve done, Ahir?!” Evren shouted. “You attacked a dryad! You’ve put the entire town in danger now!”

“Why should the people live in fear of the spirits when we can wield their power?” Ahir replied. “I could bring about a harvest that could withstand any drought, which would feed an entire kingdom!”

“You have nowhere near that kind of power,” the old man scolded. “And a single spirit could put a stop any of your conjuring if they had a mind to do so!”

“You’ve used magic for nearly half a century,” the young man reminded him. “And you control a power that no man thought possible.”

“Transference is an ability I learned from the nymphs,” Evren corrected. “Even if I lived well beyond old age; I would never equal them.”

Evren watched Ahir carefully for any sign that he was getting through to him, but the boy merely glared. He turned from his young apprentice in disappointment, but Ahir remained as still as stone.

“That’s because you don’t fully understand what transference is capable of,” Ahir postulated. “Giving out one’s strength to rejuvenate another.”

As the old man shook his head despondently Ahir moved towards him, his footsteps dead silent. “And it never occurred to you that such a link could be used to seize another’s power?”

Evren’s eyes went wide as he realized just what the boy was saying. He spun around to face his apprentice and was startled to find the boy only a foot away from him. Ahir slammed both of his hands against Evren’s chest and immediately the old man fell to his knees. His master attempted to cry out, but he no longer had the strength to do so.

“You fear the spirits, when what you should really fear is their power,” Ahir gloated as the old man fell dead to the ground. “The power of a full-fledged sorcerer.”

***

The woman ran across the sand as quickly as she could, shouting towards the camp surrounding the oasis. The people began to murmur and the camels pulled uneasily at their restraints. The woman finally made it within earshot of her people and ordered them to evacuate the camp.

Many began to protest for fear of wandering the desert before nightfall, but their leader only needed to utter one name in order to make them comply; Ahir.

Suddenly woman and children were being loaded onto carts and supplies of water gathered. Their leader assured them that she would keep them safe before she ran to her own tent to gather her own things.

She threw back the cloth wrapped around her head as she entered and quickly grabbed her journals and notes from their hiding places. That’s when she noticed the tall dark figure standing in the corner of her tent.

She clutched her books to her chest and stared up at the man defiantly, swearing at him in a language she guessed he couldn’t understand. “The Great Sorceress Isha, I presume?” he asked with a slight tilt of his head. “I’ve heard a great deal about your talents.”

“I have heard much of your murders,” she spat.

“Is it true that you have mastered the ability to wield fire?” he inquired as he strode across the tent. “Controlling the element with the skill of a fotia…”

“You’ve come to learn my secrets?” she asked through clenched teeth as Ahir came to stand almost on her toes.

“Nothing would make me happier,” he admitted with a quick smile.

Isha placed her books against the man’s chest as if in surrender, but then the journals busted into flames in her hands. Ahir jumped back as the front of his cloak caught fire, but he quickly doused it with his gloved hands. All that remained of the books were the ashes now covering his palms.

“Fire is a vicious element,” the woman mocked.

Ahir wiped his gloves of the ash before loosening them at the fingertips. “Oh, trust me,” he said gravely. “I understand that more than most.”

He at last removed the glove so that his scarred right hand was exposed. Isha was not surprised to find that he had been marked for death. Surely people like Ahir justified the spirits’ actions.

“I’ve learned a great deal since my last encounter with the blaze,” he reminisced. “So many sorcerers wielding such powers. By far, the most important thing I’ve learned is this…”

Isha stumbled back as his words echoed distantly in her head, “I need no longer fear trivial flames.”

Then he grabbed her by the throat with his bare hand and Isha felt not only her powers slip from her, but her memories as well. She struggled against his grip, but she quickly felt her limbs go limp and then all went black.

Characters and Story (C) SuperheroGeek13