The tales of Lysia (Part four)

A world of magic

        Starr awoke in an outburst of pain, every single inch of his body felt like it was being riddled with electricity. It was painful beyond belief but it was not frightening or scary, he felt safe as if he was back at the shack. The pain subsided and Starr was able to look around. He was in a room that from top to bottom was made of wood, not like wood boards but it looked like tree bark. The room was filled with hammocks made of giant leaves; Starr was occupying one of them. Besides him it seemed that the room was devoid of life, the walls had flowers but they didn't seem to help lighten the mood of the room. Starr began to move out of his hammock when a voice came from nowhere, "Do not move, I promise if you do it will be to painful to bear." Starr was alarmed by the voice so he quickly lied back down again. The voice belonged to a young woman walking through the room to his bed. The more he saw her the more intrigued he was. She did not look like an elf or a human for she had greenish skin and dark black hair that seemed to shimmer. She had on a dark red tunic, unlike the elves he had seen before. She looked very pretty to Starr. She came beside his hammock and spoke, "My name is Thalia, I am a dryad and you have endured a hard transformation, magic now flows inside you." She paused because Starr was giving her the weirdest look. He had his face in both disbelief and confusion; it was not a pretty sight. "Yes?" She asked tentatively. 
        "You said I have magic flowing inside me?" He asked his voice cracking
        "Why yes I did, in fact every citizen of Sanctuary has magic."
        "What exactly does that mean?"
        "Well, it means that you are able to summon magical powers from your body to use in the physical world. For example, my magic specializes in healing which means I can heal people better than others who specialize in combat magic."
        "Oh, how do you know what you specialize in?" He was beginning to feel uneasy.
        "You can choose when you first perform any magic ability." 
        "Oh, how can you choose?" 
        "You just shoot out a bit of raw magic and your spirit will choose for you." 
        "How do you shoot out magic?" He was starting to feel more comfortable.
        "Like this."
 Thalia then shot out a purple spark from her hand; it flew about two feet from them and fizzled out into nothingness. This amazed Starr who was sitting up in bed in awe. Thalia turned around and said, "Now, you must not perform magic just yet, you need to let your body recover. Humans are the only creatures here who have to receive magic from the elves. It is a very painful process since your body needs to adjust to the fact that you now host magic." Starr was a bit disappointed since he really wanted to try out magic as soon as he could. "How long must I stay here?" He asked, hoping the answer would be "soon." Instead the response was, "When you can walk on your own." This puzzled Starr since he thought he already could walk on his own, to test the theory he leaped from the hammock and landed on the ground feet first. He then proceeded to fall since his legs had locked up. He looked up at Thalia who was trying to suppress a laugh. "What is so funny, that really hurt." Starr said. "It was because you were too naive and had no idea what I meant, now you know." She replied. Starr was still wondering why his legs would fail him; he knew his legs were not hurt since he did not feel pain. He pondered this for a moment. "Why am I not able to walk on my own?" He finally asked. Thalia, who seemed to be figuring out a way for Starr to understand, began to speak slowly. "It is because, as we speak the magic that courses through you is currently anchoring itself to your legs. It happens to all of us and it temporarily immobilizes us." 
       "How long will I not be able to walk?" Starr asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
       "Each person is different, the last person here was stuck for about a month." She replied.
       "A month!?" The worry in his voice was overwhelming.
       "Yes." Thalia was very calm in her response.
       "Was he different or was he not able to understand magic?" He was hoping his predecessor was just a bad egg.
       "Um actually she, is one of the best assassins we have and guess what?" 
       "What?" Starr was nervous of what would happen next.
       "She is going to train you. Until you can hone your magic."
       "Oh." Just peachy, he thought, an assassin.
  As Thalia kept talking she began to explain all the different type of warriors and what they do and specialize in. There were the Assassins who specialize in taking out tough enemies and spying. Starr thought this would be a really cool position to have. There were Medics who helped to heal the injured in battle; Thalia was a Medic. Starr thought this was sort of a lame job; Thalia did not appreciate that comment. Archers, Starr found out, was what Darius was. They specialized in long range combat, and supporting their fellow warrior in battle. Brawlers were big and tough warriors who used swords and other close quarters weapons to fight one on one with the enemy. Kessius was a former Brawler and Starr could see why he was an honored warrior. Lastly there were Summoners, those who used their magic to summon different creatures from the dead to fight alongside them. It was very creepy, at least to Starr who could not imagine summoning zombies to fight. When Thalia was done talking she asked Starr, "What warrior type would you like to be?" Starr had no solid answer yet, he was leaning more on being an Assassin because he thought it was the coolest one. "Assassin, I would like to be an Assassin. I think it is the coolest job for sure,” He blurted out. Thalia looked at him with a very serious face and said, "Follow me." When he still couldn't follow she gave him a wheel chair. As he followed her she did not say a word and she did not look back, only walking forward. They traveled through corridors that were illuminated with yellow flowers. If were not for the situation it would have been a pleasant walk.

      They finally made it into a giant room with a big wooden door that Thalia pushed open. Inside was a sight that made Starr uneasy: a massive graveyard. Unlike anything he had ever seen, the room was hundreds of feet tall, with a staircase leading all the way to the ceiling of the room. The walls were lined with coffins, like a catacomb. Everywhere he saw were graves, all with a marker made of what Starr assumed was pure light. Thalia then spoke in a somber voice, "Many people are buried here. All of them have died in battle, most of these brave souls never stood a chance." She looked at Starr with a look of sadness. "What we do is not a game; I am sure Kessius has already told you this. He would know about all the pain and loss that plagues us warriors. Take this very seriously because you will lose your life if you don't." She knew what she had said reached Starr for he had grown quiet and serious. "Choose what your heart wants, for that is where you will have the best chance of survival." With that she left, leaving Starr to ponder this.

      It was many hours before Starr entered the hospital wing again. Thalia was waiting for him with a pure black tunic in her hands. "If you are serious about being an Assassin you will need this." She said, handing him the clothes. "Thank you," was all he could muster. As he climbed into his hammock wearing the black tunic, he felt different, changed in some way. He knew his parents would be proud, if only they were here. His thoughts finally lulled him into a deep sleep that was much needed.       It was many days before Starr was able to walk fully on his own. Thalia had been helping him with trying to get his legs back in action. At first it was hard since Starr felt frustrated about his needing to be constantly helped. As the days went by though his legs became more and more functional, until he was back to normal again. Thalia told him he was now able to go and see Kessius again for his formal introduction to his new family, the warriors. He said his goodbye to Thalia and promised to visit her again when he could, with that he left the hospital. 
       It took him longer than it should have to find his way back to the grand room, which he first came into sanctuary from. After asking many Elves and other creatures he made his way to the room in which he met Kessius. He opened the door, and to his amazement, the room was completely empty. The fire was still going but the room felt cold, and desolate. The table and chairs seemed abandoned, even though they were still being used. Starr was not used to this type of feeling in sanctuary, usually it was full of life. As Starr wandered through the room he failed to notice the presence of another person as she crept in. She was silent as a shadow and sneaked behind Starr, waiting to strike.