Chapter 3: Bound By Fate

Aldrein went deep into himself as he called upon the magic, making sure to use the spell properly. He had done contract spells before on many occasions for his master; this, however, felt… different. The magic he was using began to tax him mentally and physically; he felt his concentration fading away, and his body grew exhausted, as if he had run several leagues. At the edge of his mindscape, he could feel Durha shaking him. Then he felt it. Pain—powerful, dreadful, and all-encompassing as it crashed into him, like a wave during a storm at port. He opened his eyes and saw Durha looking at him with concern, then she looked downward, opening her eyes wide in shock. Following her gaze, he looked at what caused her to worry and what caused the horrible pain. A strange smokeless and ethereal green-black fire traced along his arm, etching runes into his skin. As the magic drained more of his energy, it dawned on him what was happening. Using the last of his willpower he tried ending the spell and cut off the magic. He panicked as he realized his mind grew hazy and was about to slip out of consciousness. Darkness steadily crept into his vision as he tried to stay awake, but it was all for naught. Aldrein’s mind thought of Durha as his vision enveloped him in blackness.

Durha was hesitant at first as Aldrein placed his hands out prompting her to follow suit. She had seen magic only a few times as a girl from her village’s shaman. Although she was never frightened of it, the power made her apprehensive. The strange power that mortals could access was far beyond her comprehension. From what she had seen, the small humie knew what he was doing. The massive flames while he fended off the wolves were impressive to be sure, but still.

She was taken out of her musings when he gestured his hand, beckoning her to come closer. As Durha placed her hand into his, she realized how much larger she was than this boy. Her green palms overlapped his own by quite a bit. She was considered average-sized by her own people, albeit slightly larger than most women, but not by much. This humie was quite small, even cute; his pale palms were quite soft for a young man.

She stood silent, not quite sure what to do while he was doing…whatever he was doing. Durha could see that his magic was something he needed to focus on. Aldrein inhaled and exhaled slowly as he concentrated, on what she did not know. His face twitched, and then something strange began to happen. It started as small embers, which was strange as there was no fire. Before she knew it, a green-black flame was hovering just above the paleskin’s tunic. It floated there, wavering as if it was contemplating something. The smokeless ethereal flame quickly dove directly on to the fabric burning away his left sleeve. She saw the flame etch into his skin darting to and fro creating an extremely intricate pattern. Durha winced in pain as Aldrein grasped her own hands with a surprising amount of strength.

The magic! It must be hurting him. Whatever was happening, she wanted it to stop. Fighting through the pain, Durha shook his arm trying to shake away the fire. It seemed to be working as the fire began to fade away but then, just as quickly, it grew stronger, even brighter and hotter than before. She saw him snap his eyes open, but she was more concerned about the fire burning into his flesh and possibly burning her own. The boy shifted his eyes to where she was looking and his eyes opened wide in shock. His face made the motions of parting his lips and she could see he was struggling to utter something, then the strength of his grasp vanished. Durha saw the young man’s knees begin to buckle, and just before he fell, she scooped him into his arms. She felt his muscles ease and begin to relax in her grasp. Before he closed his eyes Aldrein looked into her own; in them, she could see something as his eyes dilated, but what that was eluded her.

When Aldrein woke up, some time had passed; looking at the sun in the position of the sky he could tell it was late in the afternoon. He could smell cooking meat and feel the heat of the campfire. He looked around for Durha. She must be close by, otherwise she would not have anything cooking by the flames. As if he had summoned her through magic, Durha emerged from the bush carrying more kindling for the fire and a sack across her massive shoulders. The she-orc paused to look at him for several seconds with an expression he couldn’t quite make out. Aldrein thought she was going to say something, but she remained quiet. She walked to the flame placing her items to the side as she did. Durha rotated the meat, which caused the aroma to make his stomach growl. She must have heard his rumbling as her pointed ear moved to his direction.

“It seems that the gods have used me for their jest,” Durha mused. “I have taken care of you twice now, child.” Aldrein’s mind went back to the early days of his mentorship under his master and what the old old man said to him, which was similar to her own remarks.

“Miss Durha… I did not mean to find myself under your care nor be a burden.”

She turned around with a confused expression on her face. “How did you understand me… You speak Turoch?” Now, it was Aldrein’s turn to be perplexed. She had spoken Common, albeit quietly, when she made those remarks. Now she was claiming to have spoken another language, which didn’t make any sense. Durha stood up and narrowed her eyes looking dead at him. “What sort of foul wizardry is this? How do you understand my people’s tongue?”

He opened his mouth to lie, saying that he studied her language, but before he could even utter the words, the phrase caught in his throat. He felt his arm burning; without thinking, he placed his hand over it to soothe the pain. He felt fabric around where he thought would be bare skin; he looked down to see that, for some reason, Durha had made makeshift bandages. I don’t remember being injured, he thought. Curious, he wanted to better gauge the extent of his injury and slowly undid the bindings.

Durha grabbed his arm; with her hands being much larger than his own they were almost able to grasp him fully. “Stop, Aldrein. Listen first.” He did as instructed, resistance vanishing from his mind as he paid close attention. “I do not know the arcane arts such as you do… But your spell did something to your flesh that is beyond my knowledge.”

Aldrein grew worried by what she said. He had done a simple contract spell, hadn’t he? Durha released her grip on his arm, and he finished taking off the bandage. Once it was gone he saw the results of his magic. His arm had grooves and etchings in and on his flesh. Looking closer, he could see that—instead of a usual tattoo or markings—it was as if his flesh had been etched away like stone. In the grooves, an uncanny green light shone at varying levels of brightness. Circular formations with line patterns made a symbol… It seemed important, but for some reason, the knowledge escaped him.

Durha studied his arm alongside him, her soft skin pressing against his own as she leaned in to get a closer look. With her being as tall as she was, his eyes were level to her breasts, which made it all too easy to stare at them. Quickly, he darted his eyes away. You must keep yourself pure, Aldrein. A Spellknight’s power is tempted when he is weakest. With his master’s words running through his head, he began to mentally recite the scrolls and books that he had remembered during his tutelage.

A pattern of recognition began to form in his mind as he thought about the previous events.

I couldn’t speak the lie, and when I tried… The… The runes of this sigil formed on my skin began to burn.

He got up in such a rush that Durha almost lost her balance. Quickly, Aldrein went to his travel pack hoping that what he assumed was not correct. He ruffled through the contents until he found the grimoire. He furiously flipped through the pages, taking quick glances and hoping his assumption wasn’t correct. Once he was at what he guessed was the correct page, Aldrein took a deep breath.

Durha watched the young man reading the book for several seconds. Whatever passage he was reading in the tome must have been ill-fated, as his expression became more concerned. He lifted his gaze upward and stared at the evening sky. Aldrein was quiet for several minutes before he looked at her, then he let out a sigh of defeat and lowered his head.

"Aldrein, what does the tome say that has you so dismayed?" Durha covered her mouth, surprised with the elegance and simplicity of her magically enhanced vocabulary. Speaking the human language now was as easy as communicating in her own tongue. Aldrein sat on the log near the fire and was quiet for several seconds.

"It seems…we are bound to another," he sighed. It was only brief, but she thought she could detect a hint of holding back as the young man spoke, as if he was **** to speak something he would rather tell her willingly. The last thing she needed was a man letting his pride get in the way of something she wanted. A change of tactics was needed for this. She sat next to him on the log getting close. Careful to avoid his magic scar, she placed a hand on his arm a few inches beneath it. with a softer tone a gentle voice said

"Aldrein,” Durha gently asked, “what does that mean, this… 'We are bound to one another’?". That seemed to have worked, as he lifted his eyes looking directly at her own. Durha studied his face trying to read his emotions. Without anger this time she was able to see he was quite handsome…for a pink-skin boy, at least, his brown hair and silver eyes being the highlight of his features.

The way Durha had spoken to him caught Aldrein off guard. Her gruff guttural accent was gone, he now noticed; her voice was soft and her touch even softer. This was a different side to her that he didn't expect. he stared into the black sclera and gold iris of her eyes, seemingly examining him—for what, he did not know. She placed her green palm on his arm just below the mark, easing his tension somewhat. He felt his resistance toward her ease and be replaced by a sense of trust. Aldrein was quiet for several seconds, thinking of what to say.

"I believe the incantation for the contract was stronger than what was needed. When I cast the spell, I compensated my lack of strength unintentionally making the spell something else entirely."

Durha looked in his eyes as he spoke, never once glancing away. He did notice her grip ever so slightly increase. "What spell created your mark?" she asked.

"It's a binding spell." Aldrein sighed, gesturing at the book. "There isn't much in here on the subject, only the basics. Both master and bounded can speak and understand either's native tongue. A bound can never lie or disobey a direct order. Bound can never flee. And finally…" He hesitated to say the last part of the passage. "...A portion of my soul is yours," he finished quietly.

Durha was quiet as the last words uttered from the boy's lips. They resonated in her head and reality gripped her like a snare. She felt anger envelop when the logic concluded what was happening. In the span of less than two days she was now responsible for a complete stranger, and a human to boot. This pinksin this…boy, she thought. Durha was a huntress, and with it came the thing she loved most: being isolated and alone, but most importantly free

You did this to yourself again, stupid woman. The very thing you swore against.

The sun was beginning to fall towards the western horizon, turning crimson. Durha needed to be alone and needed an alibi. "The day draws to a close… I shall gather firewood. Don’t follow me, toshumak."