The Messenger

by Mindhawk

Chapter 5 The Gifts of Enlightenment

Your back isn't hurting as badly as you thought it would. Who would have known that sleeping up against an acorn tree could be so comfortable, with the embers from the camp fire from earlier last night are still warm, as the sun is rising from the east.

You check your surroundings. It seems as if you've just awoken from some horrible dream. So much fire, and death. And the screams. You can’t get those peoples screams out of your head, why couldn't you have helped them? Why was it so important that you lived? You would have thought since the last time this happened………..

No, you shake that thought out of your head, you need to stay focused, and there is no need to keep looking back into the past.

Looking over your left shoulder now, the image of the old tired wizard greets you, and he appears to be staring off into the distance somewhere. Would it kill this guy to let you in on all this madness? It seems as if he is still hiding quite a bit from you. You can’t imagine why, after all that has happened in these past two day, you start to wonder if you’re just an accessory in this old wizards hair brained scheme.

“How did you sleep?”, turning his head around slightly to notice you getting up.

Before answering, you stretch your arms in the air, letting out an audible yawn. You're not so sure why, but you don't even take into consideration how impolite it is to yawn in front of others without covering your mouth. Maybe it's the fact, that because of him, your whole life has been burnt to the ground. But, just to show that you're willing to comply with him, you answer his small talk.

“Fine thanks, can't believe a tree trunk could be so comfortable to dose off against”.
It seems as if it's the beginning of a beautiful day, the sky is still a bright pink and orange, the sun hasn't fully risen yet, and you can still feel the chill of the night clinging to the air. Last night may as well have just been a very bad dream. Unfortunately, the aches you still feel in your feet prove otherwise, you're not sure how far you speed ran last night, all you know is that your body is telling you to not get up. But as usual, you barely listen, noticing that starswirl has already gathered his satchel, and his funny looking hat with the bells on, and started making his way back down the path.

It's been 3 hours now, but to you it has felt ages. You're running on an empty stomach, and you didn't want to tell starswirl before, but even though you slept well your body is still aching from the days journey before. Trying to put on a brave face and just try to walk it off, you instead give a look of forced determination, which some may take as either anger, or even frustration. And this doesn't go by unnoticed.

"Uh, Starswirl", you ask as politely as your mood is permitting you to do so,

"Look I know you're main concern is getting to, uh, wherever it is we're going to, but don't you think that those dark messenger things would be chasing us right now? I mean, if they find us, do you even have a plan?" This is coming off snark ire than you anticipated, but it is a concern that needs to be dealt with, atleast in your opinion.

That's when it happened, it looked as if a light went off in the old mans head.

"Logan, I must ask something of you",

Another favor? You answer him "Sure, what is it?", why did you say that? What is it with you and just blindly agreeing to things lately?

"If you had to take a life, would you?",

"Uh, what?",

"If you had no other options, would you...." But you cut him off before he can finish that sentence.

"Ok, let's get this one thing clear, because I think you may have the wrong idea about me, but I am against fighting. I'd never hurt anyone, or anything if I can possibly help it, why would you ask me that?".

He nods, and points to a clearing between the trees on the side of the path.

"We shall stop there for a moments rest", and with that you both trotted down to what seems to be a shallow stream.

He picks up a stick, and throws it to you. And then picks one up himself.

"I want you to hit me with that stick". His eyes narrow in a stance that would ready him for an attack.

You look confusingly at the stick, then back to Starswirl, then back to the stick, and smiling, you realize that this is some kind of weird joke, how can he expect you to hit an old man? So you lower your stick.
And just before you tell him you're not going to hit him, WHACK, a sharp pain sears though your head.

He hit you! The sneaky old bag of dust hit you!? With a STICK to boot!

"OW', you yell ' What did you do that for?".

"Ow? When an enemy stabs you with a sword, or shreds you with claws, or bucks you in your chest, you're going to say ow?".

Ok, now he's asked for it, you've put up with far too much nonsense already, you're not going to put being hit on the head on the long list of things to bitch about.
So, you swing with all your might, hoping to hit the man. But it's all in vain, he seems to be able to read what you're doing.

You swing right, he moves left. You lunge forward, he steps back. You try a blow to the head, he ducks, and sweeps your feet with his stick, causing you to fall on your back against the wet rock on the ground. The slight sensation of pain you feel is so uncomfortable, but then again, you've felt worse, from falling out of trees when you were a child.

He helps you up, but there is a concerned look on his face.

"You have the right idea of how to fight' he looks at your hands, 'but you don't actually posses any actual talent at defending yourself do you?".

You raise an eyebrow, rubbing your neck and sarcastically answer him, "Wow, what tipped you off? The fact that I just told you not five minutes ago that I avoid fighting in any situation, or the fact that you just handed my ass to me with just a twig?".

"Now there is no need to be snarky with me young man".

"Snarky? You tripped me up with a stick, what was that supposed to teach me? How to get my butt handed to me? Because spoiler alert, I already know how to do that".

"It was to teach you that you must learn to defend yourself", standing up and walking over to you, placing a hand on your shoulder, " And you were lucky it was just a fall on your back. If it were those dark messengers, you would be in a much much worse state than you are now my young friend".

"If those Messengers were here, at least they'd tell me what I'm here for instead of being some mysterious.... " but before you finish mumbling under your breath, Starswirl bops you pretty hard on the head with the butt of his stick stating that he knew what you were going to say.

This seems to go on for hours now, you get up, he knocks you down. Sometimes on your back, other times on your front. If you were on the sidelines watching, you would have probably thought it had stopped being funny about five hours ago.

It's starting to get dark as the sun sets. Starswirl has opted to go to a nearby rock and perch on top of it, legs folded and his eyes squinting into his left hands thumb and forefinger, starting to see a pattern here.

You're scrambling to your feet, your whole body aches. There are bruises all over your face, your legs are shaking, your arms are all beaten up, and you use your tongue, just to make sure all your teeth are still in place.

"it seems as if you are somewhat of a novice at combat", he points out, with both palms of his hands, "And we don't have an eternity to properly train you".

You go wide eyed, with one of your eyes twitching in annoyance. You've been at this for 8 hours, and it's only now he is deciding to act upon it? No, Uh uh, NOOOOPPE, not this time, it's your turn now. It's your turn to act like a smart ass.

"OK, listen, Starry pal of mine, now, I am aware of the urgency of our *ahem* 'finger quotations' Epic quest to save an enchanted world from certain annihilation, and you for some odd reason want to drag my worthless ass along for the ride, but......" I can't stress on how long he pauses before breathing in deeply, "Aren't we still be chased by some blood thirsty, Supernatural murderous dark messengers, who wish for nothing more than to cut our heads off?".

Now his eyes widen, going silent. and the only thing you can think of right now is yelling in his ear, flailing your arms in the air, HOW? HOW COULD SOMETHING LIKE THAT SLIP YOUR MIND?. But, you don't, you just let that particular penny drop.

"And we don't seem to have come any closer to preparing you for the journey ahead have we", he enters into a deep thought, rubbing his chin with his right hand, and rests his arm with his left hand, then it looks as if a painful lightning bolt hit him on the head, "Mr Knightley..."

"Uh, I think it's just Logan at this point I think" you say interrupting him.

"Logan, do you believe in enlightenment?".

Now you're intrigued, "Enlightenment? You mean like religion?", he shakes his head slowly.

"I'm talking about discovering what you are truly are capable of". He gets up from his sitting position, placing his satchel over his shoulder. You both start to make you way once again to the forest.

As you walk, he continues with his explanation. "You see, where I come from, my people often discover what they are truly capable of at a very young age. Once they discover this, they often tend to veer towards these talents for their destined career, or perhaps what they are meant to do in life. These phenomenons are often called 'Cutie marks'".

"Cutie marks? What are they?", you ask bemusedly. It just seems a little surreal that there would be such a thing called a cutie mark. He then proceeds to explain what a cutie mark truly is, telling you that they are a form of tattoo, which magically appears when the said party discovers their true talent. For some reason, this surprises you a bit more than a story of a far away kingdom, and a supposed unstoppable force of evil hell bent to cover the world in darkness.

"Now, human beings in this world don't have such an ability. It's up to you throughout your entire lives to discover who you are meant to be. Where you belong".

This hits you a little closer to home than he had anticipated, as you haven't truly found where you belong yet, or at least you don't know any more. You're approaching a low bearing part of the woods, where a clearing in the trees shows the orange tinted sky from the setting sun. He sets himself down on the soft leaf and moss covered ground, beckoning you to do the same. As you both sit crossed leg facing each other, he sticks his hand into his satchel, rummaging around for a minute before pulling out a small vial. It's a clear glassed cylinder, with what appears to be a bright purple liquid inside. He examines the contents by holding towards the sunlight.

"In the other world, my home, I was a respected sorcerer. A conjurer of sorts. My kind would often come seek me out for advice, spells, and in most cases, elixirs".

"You used to create elixirs? With Magic?".

"Correct. But this one is very special. For you see, it was created for a single purpose....".

You lean in anticipation, staring at the so called magic potion.

".... to unlock the true power of any person who drinks it". This potion he says, apparently unlocks an individuals true potential, perhaps what they have hidden deep within them. Now he's got your undivided attention for sure.

"I've held onto this vial for many years, hoping that once I return to my world, I would pass it to my successor, in hopes that they could be able to replicate my work, and bring forth a new collection of heroes when the world needed them the most". He looks as if he is getting a little bit emotional now. Like taking a gamble on a high stakes game of cards.

"Logan, I realise that you haven't known me for a long time. And I can't force you to trust me, but I do feel as if I can trust you. You decided to follow me on this journey, with very little information, and yet you have a certain spark to you, which tells me that you will get this done. So, as my trusted fellow traveller, I am going to give you what you need, to be able to survive this adventure of ours". And, as if handing out a sacred artefact, he places the vial in your hands. You take it delicately, marvelling at how it seems to glow when you turn the small glass container.

Reaching his satchel, he hasn't even noticed that you were already drinking the contents quite rapidly. Raising his head, his eyes widen in shock noticing that the vial is now crystal clear, rid of any of the potion that remained inside.

"Uh, what did you just do?" He yanks the bottle from you, seeming horrified, "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?".

You do nothing except let out a quiet belch under your breath. "Sorry, I guess I couldn't hel....", but you're cut short. All of a sudden, you feel something. Vision starts to go blurry, and you're chest feels as if it's burning from the inside. All your senses seem to have ceased to function. All you can feel now is pain, terrible pain. But you're not even able to scream, your voice is caught in your throat, and for a split second, everything is black.

Starswirl seems to have his anger subsided for a mere moment, scattering to your side, shaking your shoulders and lightly slapping your face.

"Stay with me Logan, stay with me here". You're vision is almost gone.

he is shouting now, confused by what is taking place right now, and all starswirl can do is yell your name. "Logan..... LOGAN!!!".

Author's Note:

Hello everyone, I apologise for the delay for this chapter, I've been swamped in work lately and not really had a chance to come back to my PC. If you have any constructive thoughts, please comment below.
Thank you for reading my work :)

Comments

[Hyrs]

I've held onto this vile for many years

I'm certain you're referring to a glass bottle of some design, in which case it's spelled as "vial"

[Mindhawk]

Thank you for your feedback. You're right, I hadn't been paying attention to that, and have now changed it to the correct spelling, well spotted