Strong Hearts, Undying Flames

Strong Hearts, Undying Flames

by CasualColt

Chapter 1 - Search for the past

Magic exists in many forms around the universe; it is used, abused, or ignored by nearly every living being out there. This is true enough for me.

The name is Cliff punter. I have just turned seventeen and I’m finishing up my final year of high school. I could have been what anybody would call totally normal, except for one tiny detail. It so happens that I have the ability to use and manipulate magical energy; I’m a sorcerer taught by my uncle.

My parents and my younger brother Jake disappeared after an unknown incident during a picnic trip when I was about five years old. I was found two days later, lost and starving in the middle of the forest clearing with no recollection of what had happened to them. Cody, my father’s younger brother searched high and low trying to piece together the whole situation but without success. Eventually, Cody took me in as his son, having no children of his own, and from that day forward I became the child of a sorcerer.

My uncle, Cody Punter and I, are two of the last sorcerers left on planet Earth. Most of the world remains oblivious of our existence. There are still a small number of people who can detect magical energy, so called ghost whisperers or psychics, but people like us are far more legitimate and rare. I only know of two others apart from myself and Cody that have this ability. Did I also mention that Cody is also incredibly well connected? Every time he takes me around for one of his ‘lessons’ we take a private jet and travel to some remote location to study some godforsaken ruin or temple, usually protected by all manner of wards and curses.

This is not to say that I’m rich or pampered, hell Cody is one strict cookie. I was about seven when I first showed signs of magical power to which prompted Cody to start my training in magic. On our first ‘lesson’ he dumped me in the middle of a dessert. The only way I could escape was to walk for a week in the direction of the rising sun, learning to draw water with my magic from deep underneath the ground, hiding my presence from desert predators that prowled the cold nights. Not only did I almost die when reaching the desert town, Cody also proceeded to ridicule me in being too slow and pulled me for another ‘lesson’ that very day. THAT’S not the worst of it. Cody’s lessons might seem extreme, but he damn well made sure my safety was the number one priority. He even sacrificed the eyesight of his left eye to save me from a curse I unwittingly set loose during my first foray into an ancient temple.

Earth, the world we live in today, is currently devoid of ambient magic. Only mere traces remain in what used to be a world thriving with magical energy. From what Cody had taught me, thousands of years ago, in a time when mankind was struggling to survive in a world populated by strong and dangerous magical creatures, we inherited the ability to alter our surroundings with willpower, drawing magical energy from ourselves.

Soon, mankind made a great leap forward, rising above all other creatures. We developed language, then towns soon enough we formed cities, all populated with people with magical capabilities. At first, mankind could only draw energy from what some call it the life-force of their own bodies. Human magic was simpler in those times, with the enormous strain it posed on the body. This was all about to change in the discovery of the ability to draw magical energy from the surrounding world rather than the body.

Though its initial influence to mankind was small, magical research and discovery exploded out of proportion. The discovery of runes, magical catalysts and spell words came into being. This progress, elevated mankind’s magical abilities to an even higher level and resulted in an enormous drain of magical energy from the world. This caused absolute pandemonium, most other magical creatures died from this rapid drain of ambient magic. It erratically caused areas once lush with life to transform into barren wasteland. Soon when war broke out between neighbouring clans, the strain of magic consumption threatened to destroy the world. Fearing the worse, a group of elders gathered trying to end the conflict, and as a final resort, proceeded to wipe out most of the population including themselves in a gigantic flood that cleansed the world. With the lack of ambient magical energy, the resulting generations of humans had no capability of controlling inner magic and most if not all magical beasts have gone extinct.

That is the history of the world I learned from Cody.  Slowly but surely, magic would eventually return to Earth over time from the life-energy of all living things.

Ever had a dream that was so real that you thought your past life never existed? Only recently, the sinister nightmare of my past had reawakened from its slumber. Who would have thought that in my search of the past could have disastrous consequences.