Misunderstood Destinies

Layla lit a small flame in her hand and started to weave it around her hands. It didn't burn her. "Elder Ramona has been worrying me terribly about my Oath, and that is why I was nervous to bring you here without requesting a meeting with her. This Oath I took, well, it's not an average vow."

"Oh? What makes it special?"

"To graduate, you have to take an oath. The oath basically states that you will only use your magic for good reasons and not evil. That you will not allow outsiders to pass into the village, mainly because of the danger such as the Dark Mages. That you won't share the passageway to the village with others. Things like that. If I hadn't have asked permission of Elder Ramona for your entry, upon arrival we both would have been seized. The worst possible consequence you can receive, for some members, is the stripping of your powers. Depending on family history depends on whether or not you can survive having your powers removed from your body if you were born magical. The elders never knew if I would or not, thus I didn't take the chance.

The stripping of your powers is basically like this. Once you are sentenced to removal, you are taken captive and then moved to our underground cells. There is a room in there, so I am told, that there's enough magic to hold down one of the elders themselves. Either by injection or by mouth, they force a potion into your system made by your blood. Hence why, for Warriors, the oath is by blood. Once your powers are removed, they are either transferred or are destroyed by magic itself."

"But why? What makes something so grave, I wonder"

"Even I wonder this. Preservation, maybe? I dare them to try and touch my powers. I'll give it everything I've got than let them strip it. Stripping potions can be made without blood, but using blood of the user guarantees removal. And that's what I hate. After your powers are gone, they either exile you, jailed, or you die from the removal. For some of us, our life force itself hangs in the balance of our powers. I wish I could test it for myself, but it's a risk I'd rather not take. And I don't know anyone with resurrection abilities."

"Aye"

"To be honest, what I was talking to the Elder about earlier was about a power transference. Something that would give you some resistance to other magical creatures."

Jargos raised an eyebrow

"I fear an explanation is needed"

"With the Mage, you had no magical experience and thus was unable to resist him. I have a theory that, given a power to use, it would give you an edge and make you more resistant to their power. And, also, you would have a long-ranged attack or defense compared to close range combat."

"Hm . . . I am not sure it would work, but I would give it a try . . . Why was thine elder unwilling to try this than, surely you spoke of this to her?"

"Because, one, neither of us knew where the power would come from. Two, if your body could handle it. Finally, three, because we didn't know if the one that gave you the power could handle a transference. Only one power is necessary, but it's still a painful method if it succeeds. You wouldn't feel a thing. Just an adrenaline rush, I assume."

"My people develop a resistance to pain, I would feel nothing, but to bring hurt to another would be asking too much"

"It'd be pain with a purpose, however. I will speak to the Warriors Guild leader about it. He should have some knowledge on this."

Jargos sigh a bit, then nodded

"If you don't want to try it, all you have to do is tell me."

"I'd rather not . . . It would be selfish of me to ask for the power of another, and even more selfish if they were to be hurt"

"What if someone were to offer you one that promised protection?"

"I have my own means of protection. That mage needed me starved and exhausted, and still had to use a spell that could make a dragon bow before he could control me. It won't happen twice. I can't let it." His runes began to glow red for a moment, then cooled down

"I'm just warning you that there are powerful people out there. If the stories about the Dark Mages are true, they have developed secret ways to controlling some of the most powerful beings in this world."

"That may be, But if I have that power, someone else can't. If I am protected, someone else is in danger. That is not the law of the forest"

Layla sighed. "You are quite a stubborn one." She paused and looked away, then looked back and winked. "I do respect that highly."

Jargos smiled and nodded. He then drank up the soup and laid down to relax a bit

Layla walked over to her bed and laid back. She was tired from the long day, despite it being only early afternoon. She heard footsteps at the door. The cloth was pulled back. A woman in a white dress, about middle-aged, entered. She smiled.

"Well, I'm glad to see you two made it here safely. Welcome to Zeiza, Jargos. Airen told me you two had arrived."

Jargos got up, his body making it's usual strange sounds, then he bowed

"I thank thee" He then sat and laid back down on the floor next to the wall closer to Layla's bed, he resembled a large dog when he got ready to sleep.

"Dear, if you want to rest then take my bed. I must stay in the Medicine Hut tonight."

"Whatever for, Mother? Just from wondering."

"One of the trainees got into combat with a true sword today and was injured. I'm monitoring him tonight."