Minds Edge Madness in its sweetest form's blog: "Growing Darkness"

She was ushered silently by her mother and father, walking along and examining the populated training ground. She had been trained for her thirteen years, and now it was time for her to choose the one that would be her companion. All around her teenage boys and girls were practicing magic and swordplay. The violent use of so much arcane energy left a tingling sensation in the air, one that had the young girl on her guard.

All around her the sound was deafening as spells erupted into massive and violent explosions, and crackled with electricity. Steel on steel erupted into a faint melody as sword met sword in open duel. Despite the chaos of the training taking place around her, she was more intrugued by the group of boys and girls that stood at attention. Her mother and fathers stopped at the front of the group.

She knew that she was now suppose to choose from the group arrayed in front of her who would serve as her companion, her guardian. With so many arrayed before her, she didn't understand how she'd even be able to choose just one. She began to walk along the first row, studying the young teens arrayed before her.

Over an hour passed when she stopped in front of one. Something about him stood out from the other teens in the group. As she stood there studying him, he locked his gaze on her, examining her intently. She felt unnerved by his gaze, as if some how she had something to prove, as if she had to earn his respect.

"Him," she announced, raising her left hand and pointing at the teen boy before her.

Her parents lost their excitement. It was rare for the duos to be of opposite genders, and not very common practice or highly accepted. At first they spent several minutes trying to talk her out of it, but she remained firm in her decision, never taking her gaze from the teen before her.

"Him," she said again, with a tone of finality that even her parents couldn't argue with.

As if to accent her finality, a magical explosion echoed behind her voice, a clear and strong pitch that seemed to echo something auspicious. Finally her parents relinquished the argument no longer willing to argue, seeing that their daughter could no longer be swayed. The instructor dismissed the whole group except for the teenager standing before her.

"Shall we begin the binding ceremony?" the instructor asked, walking quietly to stand just off to the side and between both of the teenagers.

Seven years later...

"Two Ascarian Fire Starters," he ordered from the bartender.

The heavier man turned around, and poured a red-orange liquid into two glasses, and gave them to the young man that had ordered them. He took a glass in each hand, and turned around, carrying them to his table. A lone woman sat at the table, her fiery red hair pulled back into a pony tail, her soft pale skin reflecting the dim lighting of the tavern.

He sat a glass in front of her, and sat across from her, saying nothing. She tried to speak into his mind, but he had her blocked out. Angrily she sat her glass down heavily, drawing his attention, and she had him fixed with an irritated look. He glared back at her, the tension in the air causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end.

Then she realized it wasn't the tension, it was the arcane magic she sensed. Immediately she prepared to lash out and defend herself, when she realized that he'd already cast a spell under her nose. She let out a soft growl, just enough to show her irritation.

"Did I give you permission to close your mind to me?" she whispered harshly.

He gave her a nonchalant look, "Since when do I need your permission?"

He took a sip of his ale, and leaned back against his chair, letting her fume. He watched the entrance to the tavern as she fumed, trying to force her way past his barriers and enter his mind, but there was very little she could do to break through, no matter how hard she tried. Then he dropped his mental barriers suddenly, smirking as she almost visibly fell forward.

{You're not suppose to close our mental communication!} she screamed at him mentally.

{I can do as I wish, irregardless of what you want,} he snapped back, giving her a irritated narrowed gaze. {After seven years together, I would think you'd have learned that.}

She sighed audibly, and relaxed, {So you've not seen them?}

He shook his head, and glanced around the bar, {It's possible the information source is not as correct as was hoped.}

{They had better be, else this was a waste of our time.}

{So why are we hunting these two?}

{I don't know,} she lied, turning her gaze across the tavern.

{You're second circle, you're lying to me.}

She bit her lower lip, and glanced over at him, his black hair had cherry red streaks in it that she had done for him at his request. A soft smile spread across her lips as the memory came back to her, but she was quick to clear her head.

{Kysin, sometimes, it's better that you don't know everything that's going on.}

{And how am I suppose to protect you if I don't know what to expect when we're sent off on these missions?}

{I told you what you need to know.}

{You said that last time, but neglected to mention the artifact that the necromancer had in his possession.}

{The roof collapsed on him as a result of him using the artifact without full understanding of how to properly control it.}

{And aside from the artifact nearly killing us, we were almost buried under the collapse, or did that fact also escape you? Now we're after two men, you won't tell me why, and this time a lot of people could get hurt if we don't do this right,} he glared at her.

"I know," she whispered softly, looking at him calmly.

When his glare softened, she offered him a soft, smile, and turned as the tavern door swung open, and two men filed in, wearing traveling clothes. One had a short sword at his side, the other a dagger at each hip. She turned back to Kysin and tilted her head slightly at the duo that entered, indicating them as the two they were after.

Finishing off his drink with a heavy swallow, Kysin rose to his feet at started for the door on a course that would intercept the targeted duo. She pretended not to be following her companion's course, but her eyes followed him carefully. The two men stopped and changed their course around another talbe to keep from running across Kysin.

{Damned!} he cursed at her mentally, {Lissa do they know?}

She didn't answer him, she couldn't tell if they knew or not, but she kept her eyes on them as Kysin kept on with his ploy, leaving the tavern. She felt a weak tingle in her mind as he cast a scrying spell over the inside of the tavern, and she could sense his readiness to return should she come in danger. The duo continued up to the bar, and began a hushed conversation with the tavern keeper.

{No, they don't,} she answered back through their mental link.

Silently she watched the two men as they started to leave the tavern, and slowly she stood up and sent a mental warning ahead to Kysin. He sent one back letting her know that he was ready. Lissa followed the two out of the tavern, grabbing the two wands from their place at her waist.