A New Path - Chapter 246

The eerie silence, darkened down middays and deadly, free-roaming magical beasts. This was among the many things Briar’s home had in common with the cursed forests you read about in children’s storybooks. For as long as she could remember, this was all she had ever known, which was why it felt so strange to have someone look upon her body with not greed nor hunger. This happened to be the case with her new master, someone not forcefully claiming possession of her, but giving her his word that she will become something great if she follows him. This remained to be seen. Maybe it was all lies to get another powerful subordinate he could treat as a slave, she wasn’t sure, yet the strangest feeling inside of her told her it was not so. Her body and mind spoke to her, and they said his intentions were indeed true and pure of perverse thoughts unlike what the white-haired girl had suggested.

She was lost in the endless maze that existed within her mind, she only snapped out of it when the voice of her master was heard. “Yes, master?” She looked up at him when her name was addressed by his mighty voice.

“What kind of magic interests you?” His question forced her heart to skip a beat. This was it, the moment she waited for, the true beginning of her new life. How was it that she had dreamt of this moment for all her life, yet when faced with the question of limitless power, she had only four words to answer him with. “I don’t know, master!” How it angered her that this great and powerful wizard held her only known way to possess magic, yet here she was, with nothing to contribute. Was she a failure? Had she, a homeless, talentless, young girl in just three hours thrown away the only way out of this hell-hole she had lived in for all her conscious life. It infuriated her.

“I see.” He never stopped to look back at her, he didn’t seem displeased, nor surprised about her answer. ‘Was he expecting me to not know?’ Briar asked herself while noting how this eerie and dangerous forest no longer frightened her. Her master shone with a never-before-seen godly light, albeit that might just be her imagination as the light disappeared after she gave her eyes a quick and careless rub.

“Briar, I do not have to see into your eyes to sense the insecurity within you. The eyes are the only known windows of the soul of a person. Yet, right now, I don’t have to study them to discern very clearly what your soul is crying out.”

“I don’t understand what that means, master!” Insecurity, she had plenty of that, and that she was painfully aware of. For years, she had tried masking it with the exact opposite attitude but had yielded her very few positive results. Now, for the first time, she had met someone that spared a single glance and saw her entire self. How could she compare to that? Amell’s presence suffocated her as for every second that went by, his godlike figure grew brighter in her eyes, and that light blinded her and smothered her presence.

“It means you do not have to lie to me. You are not allowed to. I am your master, the moment you accepted my offer, you became someone I would give my life to protect. I am naive and stupid like that.” Amell finally stopped and slowly turned around. Briar took a step back as the light coming off him took over and Amell stood as a simple black outlining among the blinding light. ‘Master, how can I compare?’ She fell slowly on her knees with tears streaming down her face. Amell bent down in front of her and placed a hand upon her shoulder, causing a shiver to run up her spine. “What is your deepest desire? Tell me!”

‘My desire?’ Briar had a wish, she had a desire. Was it among the most selfish desires she could wish for? Yes, it was, that is what she believed. She placed her doubts in a box and took a deep breath. Now came the moment that would determine her whole future. Would she be left in this forest for offending him, or would he grant her wish and give her eternal happiness? “My desire, master… It is to live in your light! I want to wield your light like a spear and strike down your enemies. Please grant me this wish!” Her heart was at the risk of failing her because of how fast it was beating at this moment. The silence lasted for at most three seconds, but a whole decade had passed her by. She had seen the next ten years alone in this forest, no friends, no enemies, no weakness, no strength. No nothing. Without the light of her master, she saw the absolute nothingness between the lands of living and dead. The three seconds were up and Amell’s lips started forming to sound out the first letter of the word that would pull her out of nothingness and place her in everything.

“Granted! I shall grant you the mastery of light.”

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End