The Duel

It was going to be another boring day in the library so I decided to prepare decently – loaded my tray with fruit and took a bottle of my great-grandmothers energy elixir from the cellar hoping this will keep me from falling to sleep.
Looked at the pile of old dusty books on my desk and unscrewed the bottle… fighting demons is fun and all but studying them sure isn’t even remotely exciting. So I thought I’d start with a warm-up and dragged out the most worn one of them – the ancient grimoire all my ancestors had used and that listed all the known demons and warlocks and such. Had some nice pictures too. I leafed through it stopping here and there to refresh my memory until I suddenly came across a paragraph I had never seen before. The pages looked as old as the rest of the book but I could swear I had never read that part. Well…whatever, I thought, after all it is a magic library so anything can happen and grateful for some new information I began to read. It was about a once powerful mage who had made the deal with the devil to extend his skills and when the time came to pay his debt he wasn’t going to and he vanished. It’s not easy to escape the devil himself so that must give some idea of the powers this man had…
All of a sudden I felt someone watching me, or more like someone else was present in my room. I turned around and there he was – black coat with the blood red lining floating around him though there was no wind, holding his arms folded on his chest casually like having chitchat over the coffee table. His slender body was almost fully covered with something that looked like leather but had a crystal glow on it as if it was made of metal, his boots had a lot of straps and buckles and I was wondering why does one need something that massive just to walk (later on I got my explanation though); his nails were short and well cared for except his right index finger which bore a steel claw around it fitting so closely to his skin that when he moved the finger the metal followed precisely the same way as if it was part of his body. He looked at me and the corner of his mouth moved a bit like he was going to smile but reconsidered. His eyes were the darkest color I had seen and looking into them I thought I saw a tiny fire in both of them but I dropped that thought as impossible. He unfolded his arms and took a step towards me.
When he started to speak I was completely paralyzed for his voice was like a drug spreading in my veins carrying its poison to my heart. It was smooth and subtle and he spoke very quietly but I could almost feel it not so much hear… every word was like a chant, like a part from a spell gradually forming its net around you and suffocating all your senses. And all the time I had the feeling he was mocking me – trying to get me lose my guard, give him something to tie me up with. He said if I want to study real demons I should drop the books full of fairytales and children’s bedtime stories and come with him and he’d show me. I hesitated. But I was tempted.
He snapped his fingers and the room disappeared. We were standing in the middle of endless field of snow and wherever I looked there was just the white curtain of snowflakes dancing to their own rhythm. I was cold and my feet were turning numb. I wanted to ask him where we were going but before I could open my mouth he snapped his fingers again. Nothing seemed to change but I felt the ground moving under my feet and I thought I heard a distant sound I couldn’t yet identify. Then the next moment the sky was covered with huge wings and the air turned warmer as the dragon floated towards us. It was a white dragon, the kind I had only heard about but most people considered a legend more than reality. The mage waved me to follow him as the beast had landed and was folding his wings neatly to his sides. Now I understood why he had boots like that – with my thin footwear all the scales and pikes on the dragon’s skin hurt my feet and if by accident it should move one of his enormous claws he’d rip my shoe apart and probably my leg as well. We sat down and the mage wrapped his coat around me saying it’s going to be chilly up in the air. He couldn’t be more right. My lips were turning blue, my eyelashes started to stick to each other and my throat was hurting from the freezing air I breathed. But I was completely unaware of that as the sight opening before my eyes was astonishing…
He snapped his fingers. The dragon vanished and we were in a cave with frozen walls and sharp pieces of ice hanging from the ceiling ready to slash you up like the best filet knife in the royal kitchen. He whispered a spell and the cave seemed to open and looked more like an arena now. He waved his hand and a flame appeared from nowhere and in the blink of an eye had drawn a circle around us – I didn’t even want to think what might happen if I try to cross it. He gave me that mocking look again and waved his hand once more. The clothes I had worn disappeared and were replaced by a robe from the same kind of fabric he was wearing, it felt funny on my skin but it fitted flawlessly. He tossed a small wand to my feet and I picked it up feeling the smooth surface and sliding my finger over the engraved runes in some language I did not know. Then with the look of obvious superiority he pushed his coat off his shoulders and extended his hand with his palm facing upwards as if offering me something. “Madam,” he said looking at me with that same smile I’d seen once before, “work your magic.”
I was petrified, all the spells I had learned rushed through my mind – I didn’t know what he wanted from me but I knew I had to do something to wipe that smile off his face. I knew I was no competition for him so I had nothing to lose. I whispered a short prayer to boost my strength and extended the wand in his direction. Pretty much all the incantations I knew were completely useless…they didn’t even reach him most cases. He just stood there and smiled. I felt the rage growing in me so I started to cast with all my skill, throwing daggers of ice towards him, sending off blasts of wind and shooting lightnings. Nothing. I was shaking all over, I felt drained and my focus started to drift away. I had to sit down, my feet were like made of wax. He stepped towards me and I heard the heels of his boots clanking against the ice floor of the cave. He made a circle around me but I was way too exhausted to even raise my head when he was passing behind my back. He stopped in front of me and bent down so his face was only few inches from mine. I began to move backwards as I couldn’t take his look, his eyes were burning into mine so eventually I was lying on my back and he stood beside me with his coat wrapped around him again. “Next time you have to do better than that,” was all he said. Then he turned and walked away and with each step he took the circle of flame died down so when he reached the rim of it there was nothing left. He was out of the cave when he stopped and bent forward to tighten his boots and his coat slipped down from his left shoulder. Right below the tip of the bone there was a tiny black rose tattooed to his skin.
He followed my glance, smiled again and snapped his fingers. I started to fall though technically I could not fall as I was lying on the ground, but the cave around me began to spin and I closed my eyes.

S-grade

Yes, it's finally here - I am 76! Took me a while to reach there, but the sweeter it feels now.

Very soon the quest is done and I will have my little blue tag, from now on it's Saint Irijs :)

All this grinding has once more shown me this very important feature of this game - you have to have friends to achieve something. And I'm happy to say I have been blessed with a bunch of them. After being pretty much on my own for a while it feels so great to hear someone say in clan chat that we are going to that certain spot because I need my level or having people put up with lousy XP just for a quest - thank you guys, I owe you big time. I think I can safely say that I have found myself a home again - a clan of really nice people, decent leveling and sufficient amount of PvP (and yes I know I suck at it - trying to work on that one). Lot of funny talking going on in Vent and chat, strong support for each other and a common goal. I wasn't fully sure about joining for a while, have been in small and peaceful ones lately and was afraid of the change - but fortunately I have friends who won't let me be a loner and bugged me long enough to make me decide. Love you for that. Forgive me for being a carebear sometimes, and I know it's hard to put up with me when the bitch hits the fan - but regardless of what I say and do (or leave undone) I care for you a lot and I wanna do my best to help us grow and get stronger. We rule :)

Virtual Reality

Some of my non-gamer friend once defined online RPGs as "dating portals with an advanced interface" and sometimes I think he was not so wrong after all. Fantasy world communities do have all the qualities of a real world meeting (/mating) place just without the final possibility of physical contact (unless you take the relationship out of game of course) which tends to make it way more relaxed and the ties much more loose. Committing yourself to someone in real world means a lot of other things to follow but in a game it can be just role-play and therefore no strings attached. Virtual friends can be unplugged when you get tired of them or they don't behave like you want them to; when you feel that you need some company you can just log on and there's always someone to talk to.
It's like in childhood - most of us had imaginary friends back then - when all the world was against us they came to offer a shoulder to cry on. They were always ready for an adventure and never refused their help. And they were only ours, no one else had the right to know them. The only difference is that modern imaginary friends are in fact real people - yes they can pretend to be someone else but we choose them by the qualities we like in them and if the role they act out matches ours we don't care that it's all just a fairy tale or even a big fat lie. But real people have real lives too somewhere and that always has an influence on their virtual lives (or it should have at least not the other way) - so we don't really know where and how they spend the time they are offline. And once we have accepted them as our friends we tend to think they belong to us. Or that they exist because we want them to.
So from one hand a virtual relationship needs much more contribution than a real life one - in real you can just give a call to a friend to say that you care, get together for a drink or just be there with each other doing nothing. Fantasy friends cannot have that - when you have logged off you are gone. And they never know if you will return. But then again they can start consuming more of your time than real people - since you met in that game world you must have at least one thing in common and usually you have more. So it can become a more rewarding relationship than the ones you have in real - sharing same interests and having fun together gets people very close. Besides, when you feel bad you stay out so they hardly ever see your down sides. Because of the anonymity of the web they can be much more open in talking about personal things so the connection that you have can be a lot stronger and make you feel that you have known this person for a long time. And sometimes it's better to keep it that way and not try to bring it out to the real world.
Unfortunately that is something that I cannot handle yet - if I get close to someone in a virtual world I want to meet the real person behind the screen, either to gain a friend or to see that we don't have anything in common. But I have to know.
Speaking of feelings in cyberspace - that's tricky. It's so easy to fall in love with an image, a projection of all the qualities you like in a person. And acting out romance is fun and in a healthy role-play it only adds to the joy of it; just as long as it pleases both sides. Starting to demand commitment and vows of loyalty might get things moving in a wrong direction. Regardless of all it's still a game and putting real things at stake for it is not right I think. We have to draw a line somehwhere and if we can't then let others do it for us and get a reality check as to what is important and where the priorities lie.
I guess I have been lucky, of course I have got my fingers burned a couple of times and made a bad desicion but in general it has been a great time for me so far and I sure hope it goes on like this. I have met amazing people and made some real good friends, connections that have moved outside game and have a life of their own now. Had my share of being a drama queen - even that can be refreshing if you don't do it in real world :)
So I will continue my adventures and hopefully find a lot more to discover...

Kinderstube of Democracy

Unfortunately had to leave Aden behind for a while... Real life kicked in, and not exactly in a way you would want to... Considering that I'm from a country with relatively young democracy (I'd stay it has learned to read and write if we compare it with the stages in human life), I think I can be a bit derailed in the light of last days' events. And I guess even in places with history in freedom of speech and all that it is kind of discouraging to see your home town vandalized by people so young they hardly ever can have a political opinion.
Makes you think of the power of mass psychosis again - and the similarity of humans (var. Sapiens...) to a pack of hyenas. Nothing to do with showing your protest when you break shop windows and drag out designer jeans - trying to make a stand against Armani?!
The other thing that comes to mind next morning - time heals all. Only couple of hours ago the place was a living hell of burning fires, rocks flying in the air, shouting in different languages and the concentration of anger so high you could feel the adrenaline running and have to fight the urge to get down on all fours and howl with the wolves. With the sunrise everything has changed - shattered glass has been removed, streets have been washed and bodies counted; traffic is taking its usual routine and kids worry about final exams and boyfriends. Tourists have coffee in old town cafeterias, not even noticing the missing windows of a nearby liquor store, of course they won't since things like that are daily stuff in their countries - so what's all the fuss about... And well, life does go on. Just never again will we watch CNN with the same indifferency as before, thinking "the spoiled brats who have nothing to do so they start a riot". We have crossed the news margin and stepped to the big boys' playground.
Time to bury those petty feuds and unite against a common enemy and I don't mean to retaliate in the same manner but everyone just stop and think for a moment where the priorities are and how fragile the balance is. This also should once again prove the vital importance of being informed and educated - knowing that every cause has its effect and everything you do has its impact on a lot of others would maybe prevent from outright stupidity. Like the PM said - not a wise desicion to start your adult life with a 5-year prison sentence.
And as lame as it may sound - tell me who your friends are and I tell who you are. In that age we get far more influence for our role models among ourselves, not unfortunately the ones posed by society - olympic champions, successful enterpreneurs, Medecins Sans Frontieres... Assuming ratemydick.com gets more clicks than bbc.co.uk/history - and that is nothing suprising, just sometimes maybe we ought to sit down and reassess our goals.
Idle hands are Devil's tools, just don't forget that.

Realm of the Down Under

Pagan's Temple

Tip of the Day

An old man lived alone in Minnesota. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison.The old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his situation:

"Dear Son, I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden, because your mother always loved planting time. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren't in prison. Love, Dad"

Shortly, the old man received this telegram:
"For Heaven's sake Dad, don't dig up the garden!! That's where I buried the GUNS!!"

At 4 AM the next morning, a dozen FBI agents and local policeofficers showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns. Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what happened, and asked him what to do next.
His son's reply was:
"Go ahead and plant your potatoes, Dad. It's the best I could do for you from here."

Moral:
No matter where you are in the world, if you have decided to do something deep from your heart you can do it. It is the thought that matters not where you are or where the person is.

Valentine's Day

Scroll of escape to my love...

Stolen Happiness

Like I said, my life begins at the sunset. My human form is just a shell, something to protect me from the sun and the curious looks of the people around me. So it’s nothing fancy and I don’t feel much connection with it really. But when I transform my body takes the shape that I adore. My pale skin and deep dark eyes, my bones so light that when I run my feet barely touch the ground. And my little pointy ears. So I put on my robes, equip my miracle sword and cast my spells. I breath the chilly air and I feel the energy, I hear the other nightlings come alive and see the bright moon watch over us with its purple eye. It’s the time when my friends start to gather, we greet each other and exchange protection spells; we show our new skills and meet the chosen ones who have joined us. For the outsider we appear to be idly walking around and not paying attention to what’s going on around us… but that is an underestimation. We have eyes in towns and ears in the hunting grounds, we have friends and allies and we are always alert. So when someone gets in trouble it all changes. Senses sharpened, weapons in hand we walk to battle with our heads held high and even if we lose we never give up. And that’s because of who we are but also because of our leader. He is the most amazing creature I have met (and I have seen all kinds) and there are moments when I am not sure he is even from this world. For he has skills and power that I cannot comprehend. Though he belongs to the same race as me, he has been trained by different masters so he controls the dark forces of the night and rides the winds, surrendering enemies to his magic. He sends out hurricanes and vortexes of pure evil, he runs like the tempest and he is always in front of us going to battlefield encouraging us when we feel weak and sharing our glory when we win. Our enemies fear the sole sound of his name and it fills them with hatred because their encounters are deadly. But there is a side of him that not many people see as it’s hidden behind the air of power and unquestionable demand of loyalty, the need to be faithful to your brothers until the day you die. He cannot allow himself to be weak, at least not in front of us. Only I know what he hides inside, only I see the moments of despair and doubt; self-accusations and sadness. No one can be strong always but if you have to lead, you are not one of us any more – you have to be stronger than the strongest and faster than the fastest. You have to see everything and hear everything; know things before they even happen and plan ahead and at the same time be caring and understanding and know when it’s time to show your steel and when it’s time to share the love you have for us. And for all of that he is, I love him more than I ever have loved anyone; I am willing to give my life for him and I follow him to the end of the world or to the deepest hell if that’s what he needs. I stand by him when he is happy and I stand there when he is desperate. I am always there if he needs someone to talk to and I am always loyal to him. No one has the right to hurt my angel. And it’s with him where I have my sweetest moments of being adored and with him I feel that I’m special. We cannot be together much and it’s the hardest thing for me, every time we say goodbye I feel like something is breaking inside me and I can only survive this by counting the hours when we can meet again. We cannot share our love with all our friends, for life is sometimes more complicated than we want; so we have to hide what we feel and sometimes it’s so painful to see him lying dead on the ground or being attacked by false accusations and just standing there not able to run to him and hold his body close to me or to speak up for him saying that I know that he can never do the things he is blamed for. Therefore the times when we are together are sacred, like an ice crystal glittering in the starlight – so beautiful and ever so lonely. It’s not like the usual bodily experience when your love is transferred to lust and desire, though certainly we have that, the sensation of melting into each other and moving in some universal rhythm that you can only feel not understand with your mind. But what we have is the unity of souls, the unique situation where you don’t have to speak any more to say something to each other… the closeness where you can stay quiet for hours just breathing in synchronized pace, or you can talk about everything and you know exactly where and how deep you can go. You share everything and yet you keep your personalities and instead of giving in to the one who is stronger, you unite them together and create something wonderful. So that is why I devote myself to making him happy; that is why his sweet smile fills my heart with sunshine and his touch is like an electric charge through my body.
But the sun is coming up so I have to close this chapter and hurry to my hideaway, dreaming of my sweetheart and sharing my feelings with this diary…

The Beginning

First I have to tell you a bit about where I come from… It’s a god forsaken place on the coast of a cold northern sea. Most of the year it’s dark and sharp winds rush across the almost mountainless terrain. The nights are clear and the sky is filled with little stars that blink down at you like millions of curious eyes of a creature so old it has melted into the core of the universe. When the warm season approaches the days begin to turn longer and nights shorter but that’s just for a remote time, it’s like the interlude between two parts of a theatre performance… Just long enough to get a glass of wine from the café but short enough to still be floating on the air of the things that you have just seen on stage. Summer at this latitude is like a dream, you enjoy it to the fullest when you have it and then it’s gone and you are not even sure it was there… So most of us are more or less night creatures, we have adjusted to the harsh environment, we can stay without eating for weeks, even months; our bodies have gone through an evolution which has used all our advantages and slowly erased useless features. We can travel long distances without needing to rest and we can hear a child whisper on the other side of the frozen sea that separates us from our closest neighbors.
So I hope you understand that all this has made me what I am now. Sometimes it makes me sad that I have become emotionless and don’t feel things like I used to do. But then again it’s the only way to survive here. We have seen invaders sail to our harbours on fancy ships, setting up camps and travelling inward but for some reason they never get anywhere… They either lose their minds and then wander endlessly along the icy roads, never hardly saying a word and only looking at you with their eyes full on universal fear and not even realizing that its snowing and they are walking around barefoot. Or they get attacked by something that sneaks to their camps, sleeps their guards and leeches out their lives so that one traveller who once came across such deserted camp, has written in his diary “…and they were all lying there, faces totally empty; looking as if something has just flown through them and devoured all their souls”.
I’m a transformer. It means that I walk like human at daytime and I can do that at night but not very often this is the case. Usually I finish my daily routines at sunset (which in these areas comes real quick accompanied with a pale moon which seems to be made of bone), then go for a quick prayer in my private shrine and when I feel that my soul has been purified from all the negative energy I have gathered during the day I will do the Ritual. Most probably you will ask what it is like, well I have to apologize but this is meant only for the chosen ones. Already in the very beginning when I’m starting to chant the first verses of the spell I can feel the power of my ancestors flowing through me and I start to shiver all over. From a certain point I don’t think anymore, just feel; feel how the strength of centuries before me runs in my veins, fills my heart and mind. And then I know I’m ready. Ready to slip out of this world and enter another one, a world where everything is different… a world where we are what we want to be and a world where I know my beloved one will be waiting…

Line of Command

This war had been going on for some time already and there was no sign of an end to it. The forces we were up against were not from this world. They changed their shape, they changed their tactics and they had a nasty way of being a step ahead of us all the time. But we didn’t have much choice though; we had to keep on fighting.
The only good thing about it was that this war had united the rivaling kingdoms on both sides of the lake against a common enemy. If this hadn’t been the case, I would never have met you. And the rest is history.
It all started when my father wanted a message delivered to his allies on the other side. But at those times you could trust no one so it was I who had to make the journey. I know it’s not a usual thing for a girl but then again, I was not a usual girl. With a family of many generations of great warriors it is a bit of misfortune when a girl is born. Luckily I was very much satisfied with the tradition; it gave me the possibility to do things I enjoy – dragon riding, archery, training with swords etc. So I was ready to do whatever needed to fill my place in defending my world. I took the letter, my crossbow and my sword and off I was. It has been long since I’ve had the chance to feel he wind in my hair and the land flying under the feet of my favorite wyvern. I felt like I could sing, but it was still war so I kept myself under control.
After a day’s journey I saw a camp down in a valley I was soon going to pass. I climbed off the dragon and had a closer look; they seemed friendly so I rode onwards. When I approached the camp, one of the guards stopped me and asked from where I was. I showed him the seal of my father and he stepped out of the way. I was almost past him when he asked about my destination; I had no reason to hide it so I told him. And then he said that the camp would be moving on soon and they’re heading to the same direction so maybe it would be safer for me to join them. I wanted to protest but then I realized that he had taken me for a young boy – I had forgotten that I was wearing full armor which covered my face and hid all those body curves. I decided it was a good idea to continue the disguise. After all it wasn’t very safe for a woman to travel alone through a battlefield; not even a woman with my power.
The guard promised to take me to their leader to get an approval for my joining the unit on their way. When we walked between the tents where men were resting and cleaning their weapons quite a many heads turned and I was glad I had kept my long hair under the helmet and my face concealed. So we came to the headquarters. And then I saw you.
To make things clear I have to say that I was used to soldiers and warriors, I had grown up among them so it was not the fact that you were a commander of a powerful army that struck me… it was the look you had, the way you turned your head to check me out and I immediately knew that you didn’t take me for a boy. And I suddenly felt my stomach turn upside down like there were butterflies inside and once more I thanked the armor, if my face hadn’t been hidden you could’ve read me like an open book. Certainly none of this applied to you, you were in control. You nodded to me and asked to take a seat until you finish the briefing with your unit commanders. The guard left and I sat there silently and just looked at you. The other thing about me was that regardless of my age (I was already 25) I was still a virgin. Not because of a strict upbringing or some high morals, it was more just lack of interest in that kind of things. I had my days filled with training and when I was not training, I liked to read old books in dead languages (I had found them in the attic of our castle); these were old romantic tales about knights in shining armor and stuff like that. And the boys who showed interest in me were just boys – I didn’t feel anything for them.
But you were different. You had the air of confidence and power around you, and your look was just a killer. When my eyes met yours now and then I felt electrical charge shot through my body. And I knew that I had to have you. Somehow you must have read my mind because when you finished your meeting you asked if I wanted to put my things in your quarters as the camp was staying there for the night and leave only in the morning. I tried to be as casual as I could and said that I’d love to get rid of that armor, it was feeling a bit heavy on my shoulders. You said you’ll lead the way and warned me to be careful as your tent was a bit away from the rest of the camp for security reasons and although it was heavily guarded, there still were all kinds of ugly creatures around. We stepped outside and it stunned me how it had become totally dark – I had forgotten that in this country the sun sets very fast and it has no moon. So I kept close to you feeling your black velvet coat brush me occasionally; I felt it through all the iron I was wearing.
When we entered you sent the guards away telling them to stay outside patrolling because we have some extremely confidential matters to discuss. They left closing the door behind them and we were alone. You came to me and took my helmet off releasing my long black hair; you took my face between your hands and kissed me softly on my half-open mouth. It was the first time I had been kissed like that, so I didn’t know how to respond. But you sucked my lower lip gently and I took up your movement and started to kiss back. You touched my face with your fingers and stroked my hair. And I felt my body wanting to burst inside the armor when you started to take it away still kissing me and as the iron came off piece by piece, your tongue was moving lower and lower. I didn’t have many clothes under the armor – it was hot and heavy to wear already. So you soon had me standing naked in front of you and you just looked, not saying a word. Then you took me in your arms and carried to the bed. You took off your clothes and lay beside me, still not speaking. You started to touch me gently and kiss my neck moving downwards. You were so strong and yet so gentle, and the feeling of power held back grew the tension unbearable, I felt I was going to explode. I knew that losing virginity was said to be painful so I wanted to get over with it quickly. I lingered for moment looking for the right angle and then pushed myself abruptly onto you. It was like nothing I had ever felt before – pain and lust combined, I wanted to scream but I bit my lip, I took your hands and held them tight feeling my whole world collapse inside me. I wanted to push deeper and deeper, it started to hurt and I realized that I was crying. But it wasn’t regret, I felt like a phoenix burning to ashes and being born again. So I just sat there and cried and you looked at me and spoke sweet nothings.
You kissed the back of my neck and slide your hands all over my body. I surrendered. I knew that it was just the beginning and from that day on you had not only an army to command but me as your sweet slave waiting to please you (and myself of course…).

Valley of Saints

I hadn’t seen you for some time now, you had been travelling in farther areas of the empire doing things not yet comprehensible for me. At first I was depressed, doing everything on my own when I really wanted to do those things with you, going to places where we had been together – being alone there really hurt sometimes… But as they say, time heals everything. I put the memories to the back drawer of my soul, took them out now and then feeling the sweet sadness but knowing that the final call had not sounded yet and maybe some day somewhere we could meet again.
So you could only imagine the emotions rushing through me when I heard that there was a message for me in Magicians’ Guild. I instantly knew it was from you. The time I heard about it I was deep in catacombs doing my usual task of keeping some reckless swordsmen alive – young guys who have no idea of self-survival skills and therefore put a great responsibility on me. Even if my expertise in magic is good enough to resurrect them from dead with almost no harm left, it drains a lot of my energy every time and I feel real tired when we finish. So when my loyal friend in Aden sent me a message that I have to come to the guild to pick up a letter I could hardly wait. After all it had been so long and what could someone your class really need from me… So when we swam out of the catacomb and presented our daily work to the Priest and collected our reward I almost ran to the gatekeeper to teleport me to the castle town. And yes it was a letter from you and the content was really a surprise to me – you wanted me to go with you. You had discovered some good hunting spots during your travels and you thought maybe we should try to go there together because with my spells you will hunt faster and have more power. I was so excited to read that, I had never really been anywhere that far, most of my days dragged along in dungeons collecting the stones of an ancient seal to prevent the evil spirits to enter our world. And sometimes I was guarding young wizards and oracles on their first steps to master skills in magic. So I sent you my answer right away and we agreed to meet at town gatekeeper early next morning because the way was long and a lot of wars were going on so we had to be careful with the crowds.
It was still almost dawn when we met and the town was so quiet, only some warsmith shops were already open to sell shots and arrows to early hunters setting off to faraway lands. We exchanged a quick hello and teleported to a northern town where I had never been before. You told me about the monsters awaiting us as I was casting my protection and empower spells on you and we started running into the desert. It was strange being with you again, somehow the time that had passed since our last meeting seemed to vanish somewhere and I felt like we hadn’t departed at all. Just what I noticed at once was that you had grown much more powerful and efficient – all your spells landed like ultimate justice upon the monsters, many times so fast that they were dead before they could even approach you. At first I was a bit uneasy not knowing exactly what to do, after all I had been with gladiators and warlords most of the time and those guys just needed a lot of healing nothing more. But as you almost never got any damage from the monsters I had to regenerate your magical energy because the spells you were using needed a lot of mana power. So gradually I became more confident and followed you close among the monsters. Sometimes they attacked me but you were always watching over me so I felt completely safe. Now and then we climbed to the mountains to rest and then you told me what you had been doing and how your clan had been at war with many others and so you had left it. And that you plan to have your own and I might join it if I want. Being in the same clan with you – I could hardly believe that…
The more we hunted there just the two of us together, the closer I grew to you. I was waiting morning to come so we could go again and I could watch you cast spells fast like wind and deadly like a curse from the underworld. And I waited the breaks we made to rest so I could ask things from you and sit next to you so close that only your sword lying on the ground separated us from each other. Sometimes when I was really exhausted you would let me rest my head on your shoulder and put your arms around me. I could feel your heartbeat and hear you breathe, it made me want to kiss you and run my hands down your skin. I wanted to look deep in your eyes and melt in your body. I knew that some day soon I can’t hold it in me any longer and I was going to surrender completely…

Memories of Long Ago

I don’t know much about my past, I don’t know how or when I was born – probably from the winds and water… I was raised by the elders in the village until the time came for me to choose a profession. Then I met you.
I remember the first time I saw you; you came to the village to deliver some magical things to the temple and stopped by to chat with the gatekeeper. I noticed you because you were so different from the ordinary people who passed through the village every day – there was something about you that scared and excited me, I couldn’t get my eyes off you. So you can imagine what I felt when I learned that you had wanted to train me. Before our first official meeting I could hardly sleep, I was so worried that I look really stupid and disappoint you.
But it was nothing like that, even if you had doubts about me, you never revealed them – you always behaved like it was a pleasure to be with me and to share everything you know. And well, that was a lot of information… I was just listening and asking questions and wondering constantly about how you know all those things. And when one day I was ready to do my first important quest I was so glad that you promised to come with me. I felt so safe with you, like you protected me from anything that could happen. In the beginning it had been a pure “professional” relationship – you were so much wiser than me that I could never imagine of raising any personal interest towards me. But gradually I understood that my feelings were far from merely being a student’s respect for the teacher, it was much more… I started looking at you when you talked to me, I started feeling your power when you were close to me during hunting, I started dreaming about you at nights… I noticed the unusual colour and bottomless depth of your eyes, they seemed to imprison me completely and leave my mind blank and my body electrified. I noticed how the gentle fragility of your body and softness of your low voice had captured inside the strength of a dragon which was instantly released when you crushed monsters with your spell casting. You knew spells I had never heard of, you could summon storms and drain life from the dead, you could walk like the wind and be quick and unfailing, striking like lightning with nearly no effort… When I stood close to you I could feel the sharpness of your sorcery as if it took only the snap of fingers to make the world turn upside down. There were rumours that all your kind were engaged in some secret rituals of black magic which involved a lot of dark arts and evil spirits, and of course there was a certain air of mystery around you but I never felt like you would hurt me. You were always there when I needed advice, you were always understanding when I failed or lost faith in myself, you even helped me with practical matters – when the time was right you brought me all my equipment and gave me my first magical weapon, a book actually, but what kind of a book it was…At first I felt that it’s controlling me not the other way round. Seemed as if it wanted to share all its wisdom and I was only a tool for expressing its skills. But soon I mastered the necessary skills myself and learned my first real spells – I could strike with winds and freeze my enemies instantly to an icicle, I could make them weak when they attacked me and I could slow their movement. I felt invincible. That certainly almost cost my life a couple of times…
So we spent hours together talking and practising, you always a step ahead of me but still waiting as soon as you saw I’m not that fast. You took me to places where I had never been before – to ancient castles and mountains and endless seashores where we were the only people… In all the places you had a story to tell and sometimes you asked me questions, I couldn’t answer in the beginning but you encouraged me to think and improvise and soon you were surprised at some of the things I said.
So it was only logical that I started to feel a connection with you, I suddenly understood how you look at things and it fascinated me. I started to see things your way and it was a totally different dimension, everything seemed to have a reason, it was like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle falling into places. I felt so happy and easy, like I had nothing to worry about and I realised that the world was a wonderful place to be in. And all the time I was mastering my skills, I went hunting at nights, I travelled long distances in mountains where snow was so white that it hurt my eyes and wolves and goblins were only living creatures I saw for days. A couple of times I ran into giant spiders and spirits but as long as I didn’t touch them they showed no interest in me. And of course some of them were weak enough for me to kill them and practice my hunting skills.
So one night we were walking in the darkening forest hearing the owls wake up and spread their wings almost as silently as death creeping behind your back. I was a bit scared so you told me to keep close to you and you put a protection spell on me. I was almost like a shadow following you, feeling you inhale the night air and keeping your sharp senses constantly agile to detect the slightest movement that could harm us. I saw the moonlight reflect on your shield and I felt the gentle brush of your velvet robe as I walked next to you. We didn’t talk anymore; we shared each other’s thoughts and disappeared into the night like ghosts, two minds in one body, like a predator ready to jump at his prey. So somehow it was like a silent agreement between us that when we came to a glade that was filled with moonlight reflecting on hazy clouds, we stopped and you wrapped your arms around me. The forest was whispering around us and the streaks of mist sailed past us like ghost ships doomed to wander eternally… You held me close and I could feel your breathing and our feet were getting wet in the dew. But it didn’t matter; nothing mattered besides me and you and the magic that had sparkled between us. You took my face between your hands and kissed me, I could feel your tongue in my mouth and your fingers stroking my hair and sliding down my neck. I was like in a trance or something; I just drowned in your eyes and let you take control. You put you robe on the ground and took my hand to guide it to your warm body. It was cold outside but we didn’t feel it, we had our own heat… We lay next to each other barely touching but still fully electrified, our bodies were filled with the highest magic that exists – lust. So the next moment we were all over each other, kissing and tasting, touching and feeling, giving and taking – and only the full moon looked down on us and filled our flesh with desire. I don’t even remember all that happened that night but I know that I had you inside of me many times in many different ways, granting all my wishes and reading my mind like an open book. And that I really got the taste of you in my mouth, the feeling of your soft skin under my hands and the whisper of your hot breath in my ear. I was recharged with energy, feeling like I held the world on my palm, like the final piece of the puzzle had been placed. I knew that no matter what life had to offer for me, I was eternally connected to you, even if we never met again…