29: The Beast

"I swear if you call yourself Marigold, I can't speak to you ever again?" protested KB.

Philip beamed. "Really?"

KB cackled. "No way, not letting you off so easily."

He grunted, "at least mine is an actual name, December is not a name for a person."

"Hey, I actually like it," I insisted.

"But I think we can all agree that Lucius has the best name," KB declared.

Lucius pointed a thumb at himself and tilted his head.

"Dave Smith," Philip said and took a moment to think it over. "Yeah."

Lucius bowed slightly.

"Showoff." KB chuckled and Lucius chuckled along inaudibly, his shoulders bumping up and down.

A knock at the door stole our attention away from Lucius. Hugh beckoned for us. "They're here."

"Ugh Astor," Philip groaned as we left to go greet our partners.

"Why don't you like Rowan, you guys would make great friends," I told him.

"What was that," KB chimed in, "did you just say you don't like Rowan Astor? Well, I wonder why?"

"Must you?" Philip sneered. "He's a filthy little rat."

"Mo, is he a filthy little rat?" KB grinned.

I shook my head and Philip curled his lips.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," KB laughed.

"We'll be back," I said, to both her and I but as sure as I sounded I wasn't.

Rowan and a woman dressed in a loose dark dress stood beside their horses not too far off. When his eyes landed on us, he gave a brief wave. We met each other half way and exchanged greetings.

"Philip, Kombai, Lucius and Mo," Rowan said, shaking each of our hands. "How are you all?"

"Good, thanks for asking," KB beamed.

Lucius gave a thumbs up.

Philip grunted.

"Alright," I replied. I turned my gaze to the woman, stretching my hand out to her. "You must be Brise, I'm Mo."

Brise in one word would be eerie. And I don't mean to insult her, she just is. Small and thin framed. Her black knee length hair, was parted down the middle and tied into two loose braids. Her skin paper-white, almost deathly pale. Eyes red-rimmed. When she looked at me, my hair stood on end.

"Hmm, okay," she said so softly and walked away, not bothering to greet the others.

"Well she's still a creep," Philip muttered.

"I must agree with you there," Rowan said.

We watched as she disappeared behind a castle door. I couldn't help but worry. "Is she alright? She seems a bit down."

"Oh no that's how she always looks," Philip explained. "Banshees cry a lot. But I don't think Brise Daniels is capable of sadness or emotion for that matter."

I scowled at Philip.

"She seems nice," said a grinning KB.

~~~

"And for Mo, a hair pin," Eve said, handing me a grey bendable piece of metal that would conceal my identity. Philip was given an armband, Lucius a belt, Rowan a wristband and Brise an earring. "You will wear them when you leave the castle. Those who know you will not recognize you but you will be able to recognize each other. This also allows you to lie and make it seem as though you were telling the truth."

"Eve?" Leofwin raised an arm. He had been on his break and in the room when we arrived.

Eve sighed and regarded him. "Yes?"

"Sorry to interrupt, I just had a question I hoped you could give me an answer to," he said, less shy than he was when we first became guards. He was becoming comfortable with everyone and I was glad to see him come out of his shell.

"Go on then," Eve huffed.

"Why is it that mental curses are the only type of curses that work on vuruks?"

Eve scowled. "Aren't you an elf? You do magic, don't you?"

"Well we only learn what we're supposed to learn."

"Well than let this be a lesson to everyone then," Eve announced.

All present in the room ceased their little conversations and directed their attention to Eve.

"To explain that," Eve started, "we have to go back to the very beginning. It is believed that all magic and all creatures descended from one being. A being created by the gods. A being we call the Beast. The Beast lived among the gods but he was not a god. He soon grew too powerful. Pride and greed filled his heart and he longed to be a god as well. And so the gods ripped him to shreds and cast him out of their abode. His body became the earth that we walk on, his tears became the rivers that we drink from, the warmth of his body became the fires that keep us warm, his breath became our air, his sight brought us the light and his thoughts created life. From the Beast we descended. But the curse of the Beast fell upon us, we were destined to fight and hate and never become one. The gods took pity on the creatures and gifted them a new form of magic, magic that could control one's thoughts, one's mind. Given solely to make each other forget each other's wrong doings and to live in peace. But the creatures disobeyed the gods and used the magic to continue their wars. When that failed, the gods decided to send the Human. The Human had just as much magic as the Beast but they were not allowed to use their magic for anything other than to rule the creatures of the Beast and keep the peace. That is why vuruks are not allowed to exist, because whenever a child is born of different races, the closer the Beast is to returning. Vuruks possess more if not all types magic. It is that very magic that defies enchantments. It is common knowledge that you can't curse one with a magic they possess and are skilled at. But mental magic did not come from the beast, it is godly magic, magic of the mind. And the mind has powers unfathomable, it creates, it loves, it lives."

That seemed to explain so much, but I still had one answered question. So, a few hours later when I found Philip in the castle gardens tending to the plants I let lose.

"Is that why I had to leave the island?" I asked.

He patted the spot beside him. I took a seat reluctantly. "Magic is no joke." Serious Philip was talking. "It's dangerous. There's a reason why people don't have more than one kind of magic and vuruks do. Because vuruks have bodies capable of containing that magic. But there's only so much magic you can maintain before it destroys you. That was what happened, your body rejected the snail's magic. I didn't quite know what you were. I had suspected you were vuruk when I first saw you, but I didn't believe it till then."

"Then how did you expect the snail to help me, when it released nature magic and not elemental magic?"

"The island mage was going to help you."

"Wait," I faltered. "The island mage was a vuruk?"

Philip exhaled deeply. "He is what you'd call a fusion. He possesses both elemental and nature magic because he took someone else's magic and possibly their bodies as well."

A hand flew to my mouth. "You don't mean?"

"One does not necessarily have to kill someone to take their magic, you can borrow their magic, but taking all of someone's magic could kill them. That person could be dying and they could either give you their magic or you could steal it. And in doing so, they'd absorb the dying person as well. If things don't go so well, they lose their minds from the fusion."

"No no no, Aigar said my family was fine, they can't be dead, they're-" I began to stand when Philip placed a hand on my shoulder. With a shifty gaze I settled onto the grass. "If Aigar took my family's bodies, and my parents used the Kuebiko's magic-I-I don't understand."

Philip held my gaze as he said, "Aigar is an ancient earth spirit. A powerful magical being. Your parents and siblings exchanged their bodies and their bodies only for the gem. As for the Kuebiko, which operated via vessel, they took its magic and turned it against itself to defend against its attack. But in doing so they knew they'd get hurt which was why they chose to curse themselves."

"But Aigar didn't really mean new bodies, did he?"

He avoided my eyes. "Unless you're the Beast, bodies aren't thought into existence."