Year 2532, 40th of Chillwind, Hour 2 – Unknown Location – Solaria’s POV

The feeling of warmth is the first sensation I feel when waking from my dreamless unconsciousness. It is enjoyable, until the memory of the cold dark shed I had fallen asleep in hits my mind.

My eyes shoot open, flicking around as I take in my surroundings. In front of me is a stone fireplace with a metal cage locked around it.

I feel myself underneath the blanket, quickly noticing that my armor is no longer on my person. Adrenaline floods into my blood. I flick my ears around, trying to find a sound.

From behind me, I hear footsteps.

“I know you’re awake. Please don’t panic,” A thick, coarse voice says.

The signature sound of a Minotaur’s voice instantly sends me into overdrive.

I throw off the blanket and leap from the chair. I instantly spot the Minotaur; he has his hands out in-front of him, acting like he means no harm.

I grab him with Telekinesis, my magic partly renewed. As I pin the beast’s arms to his side, I see a skinny wolf growling at me from the foot of the bed. With my other hand, I shove the wolf against the wall, pinning him with Telekinesis as well.

Looking back to the Minotaur with a raging glare, my telekinetic grasp starts to grow tighter.

“Wait! Stop!!” He struggles against my hold.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now!” I hiss.

“I saved your life!”

“Really? What else did you do?!”

I begin to twist his arms outward.

“Nothing! I swear on the All-Father, I did nothing!!” His face winces with pain.

“Swearing on your belief means nothing to me…”

“You have magic! If you won’t believe me, believe it!!”

I stop twisting and shove him to the ground. I cancel Telekinesis and throw a warning at him.

“Do not get up.”

I ignite Internal Scan and cast it on myself. After an in-depth check, the spell proves the Minotaur’s words to be true.

“Could, you release my companion?”

Looking at the Minotaur, his finger is pointing to the wolf still in my Telekinetic grasp.

“How do I know he wouldn’t attack me?”

“Trust me, he won’t. Besides, what could he do to you with your magic at hand?”

The Minotaur had a point. I release the wolf from my Telekinesis as well. When I do it whines and scampers behind Minotaur, seemingly in complete fear of me.

The Minotaur and I warily watch each other. After a minute, I ask:

“Why did you bring me here? Why did you save me?”

As the Minotaur stands, I take a cautious step back.

“I saved you,” he says. “because contrary to your opinion, not all Minotaurs enjoy the suffering of your kind.”

I scoff.

“And,” He continues. “I can see you have an interesting aura around you, filled with a lifetime of interesting experiences.”

“How can you possibly know what I’ve been through…”

“I can sense it. It is something those within my bloodline have always had the ability to do.”

“You can ‘sense’ my emotions and my past… So, you can perform magic…”

‘Well,” he slowly says, seeming to think out his words carefully. “I can perform a type of magic, yes, but I don’t need it to read what your aura has to say.”

The Minotaur mutters a few words under his breath, summoning a bright yellow ball of magic into his hands. In response I ignite and prepare to cast a shield.

“Alright,” I say. “You’ve proven your abilities. Now stop.”

He disables the spells and I drop my defensive stance. The shield spell remains ready to be cast.

“How can you see my experiences without magic. That doesn’t seem possible,” I neutrally inquire.

“I don’t know,” He responds. “I just can. I’ve always had the ability, like my mother and grandmother.”

While facing me, he moves to the bed and sits.

“They both say it is a gift from the All-Father, but I never truly believed that to be the case. Personally, I—”

He pauses mid-sentence as he catches the uncomfortable and confused expression on my face.

There’s a moment of awkward silence before he stands and shoots his hand out. “Ah, I’m sorry. My name’s Yorn.”

I look at his hand for a moment before simply responding. “Solaria…”

His hand drops.

“I… wish we could’ve met through better circumstances,” He says.

I don’t respond.

“There, uhm, isn’t exactly a nice place for you to sleep—”

“The floor’s fine,” I interject.

I back up to retrieve my pack, keeping the Minotaur within eyesight. I begin to untie it before realizing that my bedroll and sleeping gear had been destroyed a few days before.

“I can just grab a—"

“I’ll figure something out,” I interrupt.

Yorn turns and walks off to another section of his home around a corner. He turns into a room along the right wall; sounds of rustling and shifting objects is heard. The wolf also notices, having crawled back to his bed, the sound of his master.

Yorn eventually reappears, carrying a wrapped bag. From within, he pulls out a bedroll.

“Here.”

I look at him.

“I said I’ll be fine.” My voice hardens.

He shoves the bedroll into my arms.

“Take it. You can replace your lost gear some other time, but for now, just use this.”

He sighs and relaxes.

“You haven’t had the best experiences with Minotaurs, I get that. But as I said before, I am not like Hytori.”

“You have given me no reason to trust you besides reminding me that you’re not Hytori,” I snap, dropping the bedroll to cross my arms in front of me.

“I have given you several reasons!”

He catches his voice raising again and takes a breath before continuing. “But maybe you’ve convinced yourself otherwise.”

The Minotaur walks past me to a door next to the fireplace.

“We can discuss the terms of your staying here tomorrow,” he quietly says, before disappearing through the doorway.

As the door closes behind him, I feel something staring at me. My eyes meet with the wolf’s, who’s laying in its bed across from me. The judgement seeping from this animal is intense; its face almost twisted into a glare.

“Don’t you judge me!” I defend myself. “I have no reason to believe his words are truthful! If anything, I should take them as false comfort!”

The animal gives a disdainful snort, curling into a ball.

I sit against the wall next to the fireplace and rest my face in my hands.

“Uhgh, can’t believe I’m arguing with an animal.”

I stay in that position, listening to the sounds of the fire crackling.

Eventually, I grab the bedroll, using Internal Scan in search for signs of harmful substances. There are none.

Maybe that Minotaur honestly does want to help…

I look at the door he had exited through a few minutes before.

He gets one chance...

40th of Chillwind, Hour 7:56 – Yorn’s Home – Solaria’s POV

I awake again from another dreamless slumber. At first, a sense of confusion is felt regarding my surroundings. My body starts to go into overdrive again before I remember what had happened a few hours ago.

I whip around to look at the Minotaur, causing my undone mane to flip into my face. Brushing it aside, I study both the Minotaur and his pet. They remain sound asleep in their respective beds. I once again perform Internal Scan on myself as a precaution.

Like before, there is no difference to my body.

I take the next few minutes to go through what things I still had in my pack. Nothing is missing. While I do this, a groggy voice comes from my right.

“Your things weren’t touched...”

I look at the Minotaur as he slowly awakens, deciding to hold back a retort against his comment. Yorn clears his throat before standing and stretching. As the Minotaur get up, his wolf does too. The animal goes from a dead sleep to a living spring in a half-second, bounding around his master’s legs.

Yorn walks past me to his home’s kitchen. I watch as he prepares a meal for the wolf before sparking a small fire in a little alcove cut out of the stone counter. As he mixes in various ingredients, I moved from my pack on the bedroll to the small table, setting my mane back into the loose bun it was in before.

“Are you hungry,” The Minotaur asks.

“No, I’m fine.”

My stomach releases a loud growl.

I defeatedly sigh. “Yes...”

The Minotaur says nothing as he smiles to himself.

After a few minutes, faint bubbling is heard from my spot at the table. Yorn pulls two bowls from a wall cupboard, placing them next to the cooking food. He scoops two large wads of gray sludge with a ladle, emptying the contents into each bowl before walking around the counter to a table.

He sits across from me, sliding one bowl over. While Yorn digs into the food, I take a moment to study it.

The contents of the bowl look similar to wet concrete, to a rather unsettling degree. I smell the bowl’s contents, my nose greeted only with a wave of steam.

With the lack of silverware, I begin to follow the Minotaur’s actions before hesitating.

My mind, through the years of experience, instantly questions the possibility of a trap hidden within the gray muck. Those thoughts are pushed aside, but not disregarded as I tip the bowl up take a mouthful.

The warmth is accepted, but the smooth sludge surprisingly doesn’t have a strong taste. Or a taste in general.

I gulp down the rest, finishing the bowl not long after the Minotaur finishes his. He takes both bowls and places them onto the stone counter behind him.

“First order of business,” he says, stifling a belch. “Are you planning on staying here?”

“It seems that for now, I will be,” I say.

“Alright. From what I can sense, you don’t like freeloading, so if you wish, you can work in exchange for room and board.

“That’s fine by me.”

“Are you willing to learn smithing?”

“Yes…” I say, becoming irritated at his questions.

“And do you have any other clothing besides your armor?”

“I do, but I’m not comfortable wearing them around—”

“I don’t care,” He cuts me off. “I’m sorry, but neither that armor nor that under-armor you have on currently will cut it in blacksmithing. You need something lighter that’ll allow for flexibility and breathability.”

I don’t argue with him.

“Fine. Where can I change?”

He points to an ajar door farthest from us in the right corner. I gather my pack and walk over to it.

Within is a bathroom that is more modern that I expected. Everything from a glance is recently new.

I’ll have to see about a bath tonight…

I begin to peel off the underarmor, as it had become rather nasty without being cleaned in the past five days.

==|000|==

After changing into the gray camouflaged combat pants and dark purple t-shirt, I leave the bathroom. Yorn is sitting on his bed. When I come into view, he looks at me and stares with a scrutinizing gleam.

“That’s it?”

“What do you mean ‘that’s it?!’” I indignantly scoff.

He looks away.

“I was expecting something warmer, that’s all,” he mumbles.

“I hadn’t planned on spending additional time in a frozen wasteland, thank you very much!” I snark before taking my pack back to the bedroll.

There’s an awkward silence between us before the Minotaur speaks again.

“I know it’s a big jump, but would you be fine with watching the shop while I go out for a moment?”

I give a single chuckle.

“Trust me, I can handle running a shop,” I say.

The Minotaur doesn’t respond. He stands up and walks from his bed to the door across from it. I follow.

Past the door is an open area filled with everything a smith would need.

A massive circular forge, hot coals already burning within, takes up a corner of the room. A worn anvil next to it against a pillar in the center of the room. Near the anvil is a metal table covered in various hammers, tongs, and other tools; a grindstone sits next to the table. In the diagonal corner from the forge appears to be a cylindrical dark metal structure with two openings, one larger at the bottom and one smaller near the center. On my right, in-between the door back into the home and a door leading outside are several buckets filled with coal and charcoal.

Yorn ignores all the equipment, walking to another door across the room near the forge. The shop is behind this. It’s a nice room, filled with weapons, tools, and metal supplies on display. The door leads out to the back of a counter, where Yorn stops.

“All you need to do is stand here and either handle any in-shop purchases or tell any customers to wait until I return.”

I nod.

“Most regulars already know my prices, but if you want to check, I have a book on the shelf under the countertop that has everything in stock listed. Also, if someone asks for something custom-made, tell them to wait until I’m back.”

“Easy enough.”

“I shouldn’t be too long, about a half hour.”

Without waiting for a reply, Yorn unlocks the front door of the shop and leaves.

I look under the countertop and find the book. Grabbing it and setting the thick leather-bound book on the countertop, I open it to the first page, slowly reading the contents.

40th of Chillwind, Hour 15 – Yorn’s Shop – Solaria’s POV

Unsurprisingly, the day was a slow one. Not a single Minotaur or otherwise had arrived while Yorn had been absent. When he returned, Yorn told me of the shed I had fallen unconscious in last night. It was where he kept all the scrap metal and ores for his creations were located.

After that enlightening knowledge, he set me on simple tasks such as sweeping, stocking the fire in the shop, and grabbing materials that he needed.

It was as exciting as I thought it would be.

Finally almost after six hours, and a lunch break, since the shop had opened, someone came in. Granted, that someone was a Minotaur, but at least it was a change of quiet, boring atmosphere. Thankfully, the customer didn’t seem to care that I was there. Both Yorn and the patron had been chatting for a few minutes, talking of a different clan from farther north.

Eventually, the patron leaves after ordering a custom piece of some sort to be crafted.

“Could you go and bring me five iron ore chucks? They’re located in the bin marked ‘Ore dash Iron.’” Yorn went into the workshop and sat at the smelter, beginning to churn the hot coals in the lower opening.

I continue past him, leaving the warmth of the workshop. As soon as the door is opened, I’m struck with the freezing cold air. The blizzard from last night had past, leaving an extra few inches of snow on the ground. Surprisingly, the clouds over the settlement had broken open, allowing for sunlight to filter through.

The sun did little to improve the weather however. I sharply inhale, gritting my teeth together as I cross the small gap between the back door and the shed. The lock had yet to be replaced, so I quickly fled into the shed from the wind. Even with the five seconds I was outside, my entire body involuntarily shivering. I ignite and cast Exposure on myself, which causes my body to quickly adapt to the cold air.

Too bad this spell is so costly. Uhgh, it’s times like this I regret not taking those recreational classes offered in the Royal Guard. I could’ve avoided spending unnecessary amounts of magic in this weather if my pride allowed me to learn crochet…

I find the shelf labeled ‘ore - iron’ as Yorn had said and grab five of the dark gray rocks. The first feels like an ice chunk. I use Telekinesis to grab the rest.

The rock chunks are mentally commanded to hover in front of my chest before I hastily exit. After closing the shed door and facing Yorn’s home, my ears flick towards the sound of snow crunching to my right.

I pull my head back as a large fist clips the end of my muzzle.

I roll my head with the punch before spinning my entire body with the momentum. I ignite Gust into my right hand and throw my arm forward with the momentum.

The casted spell causes the Minotaur in front of me to stumble and fall onto his back.

I turn to face more snow crunching behind me. Two more Minotaurs are approaching. With the ore chunks still in my telekinetic grasp, I throw all five pieces at the two.

The ore strikes both of them in the chest and face, knocking them to the ground as well.

I pull all the ores back to me before backing into the workshop.

“Leave me the farak alone, or I promise I’ll do more that throw rocks at you!!”

I slam the door and slide the oversized bolt lock across it.

Yorn is next to the door, seemingly about to check what the noise was about.

“I swear, I’m going to kill every single Minotaur in this settlement!” I growl as I walk past him and bring the ore to a bench next to the smelter.

“What happened,” he asks.

“Three Minotaurs tried to jump me as I was coming back in,” I say, walking to and standing next to the hot smelter.

“Three? What did they look like?”

‘Why does… they were big, brown, and ugly. Like those Minotaurs that bothered me from last, night…”

The dots start to connect.

Yorn sighs, adding a lighter gray rock into the smelter.

“They’re the same. Those three are Orn’gar’s personal hunters.”

“Orn’gar?”

“The Minotaur that runs the bar. He’s from Clan Hytori. Those hired ‘hunters’ as he calls them find anthropony mares like you and sell them back to Hytori.”

I scoff with disgust.

“How good are they at their job?”

Yorn glances at me before returning his focus to the smelter.

“There hasn’t been a mare that’s escaped after running into them.”

“Hmmph,” I snarl out while cracking my knuckles. “That’s about to change.”

“Deal with them later,” Yorn says. “As of now, pay attention to what I’m about to tell you of smelting.”

40th of Chillwind, Hour 30 – Yorn’s Shop – Solaria’s POV

After the run-in with the “hunters,” the day became much less boring. I watched and listened as Yorn explained how each piece of equipment functioned and served the overall task of forging, him operating them as he did so. By dusk, I had decent knowledge of the smelter, forge, anvil, and a few simple techniques of how to work each.

I think over the new information I’ve acquired as Yorn prepares more food. Before I know it, a hot bowl of stew is in front of me. It looks much more appetizing than the sludge from this morning. The smell of various root vegetables and meat stock makes me even hungrier.

I go to take my first gulp when I hear the most pitiful whine ever conceived. I look down to my right. Sitting there is the wolf, who is trying too hard win me over.

As I’m staring at the animal, I ask Yorn, “What is with this wolf?”

“Oh, that’s Drukl,” Yorn says. “I found him up north before I settled here. He won me over with this same technique, so I brought him with me. He’s quite the unique character, isn’t he?”

Drukl’s stare has switched from pitiful to intensely creepy, having refused to blink since he began his begging.

“Unique is the nice way to put it.”

I tried to ignore the animal and eat my food.

As I drink the soup, Yorn begins to ask his annoying questions again.

“I guess I should’ve asked, but can you consume meats? I heard that your race and culture looks down on carnivorous eating.”

I swallow the gulp before responding.

“I could ask you the same thing, considering Minotaurs don’t have incisors.”

“We don’t usually, I just like the taste,” Yorn breaks away from our eye contact in a guilty matter.

“To answer your rather assuming question; no, anthroponies as a whole don’t look down on eating meat. And yes, we can eat it. In fact, we need to, most prefer to eat smaller amounts.”

“I see,” Yorn says, the guilt replaced with an inquisitive expression.

As I continue to eat, the intense gaze from Drukl is still felt. I set the bowl down and look to him.

He’s quietly inched himself right next to my leg.

“Whatever you’re attempting, it’s not working. In fact, you’re failing at it, quite miserably. So please, let me enjoy my food in peace.”

He continues to stare, his tongue now lolling from the side of his mouth.

I roll my eyes and try to push him away with my hand. He simply falls over and begins to heavily snore.

“How even…”

“You’ll get used to him,” Yorn laughs.

Great, I’m living with a braindead animal as well as a magical Minotaur…

I down the rest of the food, wishing it to be alcohol instead.

I finish it and set the bowl down onto the table.

Now then… I need to get clean…

Yorn stands and walks past me.

“Since I know you’re not going to ask for yourself,” he says. “You can use the bath I have. All I ask is you clean up after yourself.”

He grabs a book from the shelf at my back-left before walking over to his bed.

Faraking mind reader…

I flip him off before grabbing my pack and stalking into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I take the opportunity to inspect the bathroom more closely. It is extremely similar to a modern Equestrian bathroom, from the clean, metal sinks all the way down to the placemat.

Interesting… I’ll have to ask Yorn about it…

The bathtub is no exception in sharing similarities. The only difference being larger size.

I twist the hot water knob as far as I can, before lightly twisting the cold. While the tub fills, I open a small side pouch on my pack and grab two small bottles of fur shampoo and mane shampoo, setting them on the bathtub rim.

I turn off the water and start to strip the casual wear from my body, tossing the clothing onto the pack. I step into the steaming water, giving a sigh of pleasure.

For at least 10 minutes, I do nothing but soak in the warmth from the water before cleaning my body fur and mane with the shampoos.

==|000|==

For the first time in five days, I felt refreshed. I usually do not care too much about cleanliness, but going that long is pushing my limits.

I ignite and engage Flame Cloak on myself to dry my fur and mane after stepping out. I also cast the spell on my clothes after washing them in the now lukewarm water as well. After slipping back into my clothes, I put the half-empty bottles back into my pack. As I do so, my hand feels a metal object in the pocket behind the one I have open. In the second pocket, finding the firearm that Major Glaze had given to me on the MagLev. I had completely forgotten about it.

This would’ve come in handy…

I withdraw the weapon and activate it. The pistol come alive with a magical whir. I press a button and eject the magazine-battery, checking the charge. It’s full. The magazine is replaced and the weapon is deactivated. I decide to keep it on my form from now on.

I leave the bathroom and walk to my sleeping spot Both Yorn and Drukl are both already asleep. Instead of joining them in slumber, I set the firearm to my right and prepare Magical Meditation. From now on, as long as I intend to remain in this settlement, every moment within my Meditative plane would be used for advancing my spells and increasing my magic pool.

41st of Chillwind, Hour 8 – Yorn’s Home – Solaria’s POV

I pull out of the Magical Meditation spell, coming back to reality. Although something had changed while the spell was active. I slowly look down at my crossed legs. With his head in my lap, Drukl was dead to the world.

How in the CREATOR’S NAME DID I NOT FEEL HIS PRESENCE THROUGH THE SPELL?!

I intensely glare at the mentally challenged animal, wanting to send him through the roof. For his sake however, I didn’t want to upset his master too much. This is the only reason that I semi-gently lifted the creature’s head from my lap and set it onto his own bed, which is also next to my bedroll.

Thankfully, the dumb wolf didn’t bother me as I ate, the meal being the same slop from before.

“Where is a secluded spot in this settlement,” I ask Yorn as I finish the oatmeal.

“Before I answer, is there any way you can settle this without the chance of getting arrested?”

“If I go to the guards, it’ll be showing ‘Orn’gar’ that I’m weak at best. He needs to understand that he chose the wrong anthropony to mess with. Besides, I have a few tricks to hide any evidence.”

Yorn sighs.

“The most secluded spot is behind the warehouses at the northmost point of the settlement.”

I nod before grabbing my underarmor, armor pieces, and pack, heading into the bathroom. After five minutes, I’ve changed back into my gear. The dagger and sidearm are equipped on both hips.

I quickly walk past the passed out Drukl to the workshop, where Yorn is standing.

“I’ll be back shortly,” I say before pulling my torn cloak’s hood over my head and loose mane. I exit the workshop, once again entering into the cold.

==|000|==

The new day is no longer sunny, having reverted to the previous gray clouds with the threat of another blizzard on the horizon.

It was more difficult that expected to reach the warehouses, especially without drawing attention to myself. Even with my armor, many of the sickening inhabitants still took the time to gawk at me. Thankfully, the number of Minotaurs thinned out as I approached the wooden warehouses.

After leaving Yorn’s place, I could hear those three follow me. Minotaurs, even when they try, are not stealthy in any sense of the word.

I reach the backend of the warehouses, greeted with nothing but a snow-covered opening between the outer walls and the buildings. I walk to the middle of the clearing, facing the wall, and wait. Not a minute later, I hear poorly concealed footsteps crunch against the snow.

“It’s a shame you three don’t know when to give up,” I say, placing as much mockery into the words as I can.

The footsteps stop. I turn around to face the warehouses, seeing all three Minotaurs from yesterday. One is standing at the gap between the buildings, keeping watch while the other two are much closer. One has a rope and one has a gag in one hand and a hand axe in the other. I notice the bruises on the faces of the two closest to me.

I flip back the hood, allowing my fiery mane to fall out.

“We’ll give you one chance to come with us quietly!” the Minotaur with the gag commands.

“If that’s how you want to do it…” I sweetly say.

I ignite and cast Sphere of Silence, covering the space from myself to right beyond the farthest Minotaur. Both Minotaurs closest to me take a step back as I cast the spell, before briskly approaching.

I draw the sidearm at my side, activate it, and unload three rapid rounds into both.

The blue magical energy rounds fly from the barrel and tear into their exposed chests, searing a circular hole at each entry point. As the shots strike the Minotaurs, they cry out in pain and stagger back. One instantly falls while the other drops to his knees. He looks down at the smoking holes in his chest before fully collapsing.

The third Minotaur is staring wide-eyed at his two companions. He turns to flee, but I grasp his arms with Telekinesis, forcing him to the ground and dragging his body through the snow. I release him at my feet. He flips around to look up at me, trying to crawl away.

“Orn’gar has chosen the wrong enemy,” I snarl, pulling the hand axe from the dead Minotaur into my hand. “And I think you’ll be the perfect Minotaur to tell him this…”

Orn’gar’s POV

Daytime is always the worst. No one ever came in, which meant no profit. And those idiots still had not found that Unicorn! Absolute braindead morons! How hard can it be to find and subdue one bonerhead? Even one that’s above average with magic?!

I walk to the back room to grab some whiskey for myself. As I grab a bottle and crack it open, the door leading outside explodes inward with a loud crack. I flip around in shock.

There, lying on the floor, with blood still freshly pouring from the neck, is the severed head of Klurg. I inch to his head, pulling a piece of paper that’s pinned to his head with a dagger. I shakily retrieve the paper. Drawn out in blood, the messy words running down the page, is:

Your death will not be as painless…

I throw the paper away, grab the whiskey, and return to the main tavern room in utter shock. I down half the bottle before I take a breath. My eyes catch something out the window in the door.

There, across the street in front of the blacksmith’s is the Unicorn, or rather, the Demon. Her intense stare meets my own eyes. I drop back behind the counter, scared out of my mind, silently praying to the All-Father that she doesn’t decide to kill me here and now.

The door flings open.

I give a blood-curling scream.

“Orn’gar, what in the farak is your problem!”

I slowly peek over the counter, seeing Julr and Fjub irritably glaring at me. I fully stand up, peering through the door window. The Demon is gone.

“Well?” Fjub asks.

“I-I’m fine! Hehe…” I weakly laugh out. “Too much booze, that’s all…”

As they order their desired drinks, I cannot stop thinking of the threat, and the bloody head of Klurg still resting in the back room.

Solaria’s POV

After breaking eye contact with the Minotaur waste, I duck back into Yorn’s shop. I hastily cross the shop room, go through the work room where Yorn is, and enter into his living quarters.

As I’m removing the armor, Yorn appears from his work room.

“What did you do?!” His alarmed voice halts my actions.

I pause for a moment before continuing to remove the plates.

“I did what had to be done.”

“I thought you were going to scare Orn’gar!” Yorn reaches out and grabs a bloodstained gauntlet, still attached to my arm. “Not slaughter him!”

“Orn’gar is alive!” I jerk my arm away. “His ‘hunters’ on the other hand, are all dead.”

“But why?” Yorn questions, his voice holds regret. “There was no reason to kill them!”

Rage instantly fills my mind.

“I had EVERY REASON!!”

Yorn steps back as I turn to face him. I can feel the magical energy begin to crackle around me.

“They steal, torture, and violate my kind! There is no reason or excuse you could give that would justify their despicable practices! They all deserve to feel the absolute worst death that can be wrought!”

I try to withhold my overflowing anger.

“Their actions may not be right, but revenge is not the way to solve this, nor is it the way to solve anything!”

“You have no right to lecture me on revenge…” I hiss.

“Enough!” Yorn shouts. “We will end this discussion now before either of us does something we would regret. But if you wish to continue staying here, you will not murder anyone else! Not while living under my roof!”

Both of us glare at each other, refusing to back down from the stand-off. Eventually, Yorn angrily speaks again.

“Whenever you calm down, you can continue with your tasks!”

He turns and stalks to his work room. I quickly cast Sphere of Silence on myself before releasing all my anger through a raging bellow.

The spell is canceled, and I resume removing the rest of my armor before entering the bathroom and changing back into my casual attire. Without a word, I join Yorn in his workroom.

Author's Note

Alas, chapter 5 is here.

A fun story, this was actually ready to be published last Saturday, but last Saturday was also the US showing of the last 3 episodes of the show. As you can guess, the ending of episode 26 absolutely broke me and made me cry tears of bittersweetness. I was down and out for the rest of the day.

Anyways...

Comment, provide corrections, and give any questions/criticisms you might have.

Chapter 5 Spells Conducted (in order of initial use)

Telekinesis - Previously described (Chapter 2)

Internal Scan - Subject to the Defensive sub-category Healing, this spell allows the caster to perform a magical scan of themselves or another. The scan will take the current entity and compare it to a past version of the casters choosing. Once the scan is complete, the caster will be shown any and all differences between the two forms of the scanned entity (Such as foreign substances, injuries, or diseases).

Exposure - Subject to the Defensive sub-category Healing, this spell will change the casters or the caster's target's conditioning to the current temperature. The amount of resistance to either lower or higher temperatures can be adjusted, and is meant for use against dangerous fevers or hypothermic conditions, but it can be used to simply cool or warm the caster.

Magical Meditation - Previously described (Chapter 3)

Flame Cloak - Previously described (Chapter 2)

Sphere of Silence - Subject to the Manipulation Category, this spell summons an invisible and spherical dome that creates a unique soundproof shield. While within the area of the spell, sound from within and out of the sphere can still be heard, but from outside the sphere, any sound within is silent. The sphere only blocks sound, and can be passed through with great ease.

--Thanks to HoneyBacho as always for proofreading and helping with world continuity.