by “AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” A high pitch scream filled the silent, cold, winter night. The scream was soon followed by the sound of several dog barks and lights flickering on throughout the small town. The town’s name was Geirastaoir, a small fishing and farming village in the wilderness of Alvalerz. As the sleepy citizens opened their doors they would be met with a heat that was to say the least, unusual for this time of the year. A dim light in the North seemed to attract the attention of most, it was almost as if the sun was starting to rise but the location and color was all off, plus it was only around three in the morning or so, way too early for any sign of the sun rising. A burly looking man with the thickest of black chest hair ran outside of his home right towards the scream, this man was the chief of the village and it’s strongest warrior, Kado. Kado ran as fast as his body would allow, his massive war axe was held with a death grip in his right hand while his left held an old wooden shield that had carvings of dragons in mid flight etched across the outer areas. As he ran unbeknown to him several black figures ran along side him. As he reached the home where the scream originated form he was met with a small crowd circled around a corpse of a fiar haired woman, the town’s local mage, Rebecca.
Rebecca was a kind woman who had blessed the village with much prosperity since she arrived nearly six years before with her sister Freya. Rebecca’s limpness body was strung up hanging over her door. All of her cloths had been ripped away, save for a sliver of cloth that covered her groin area. Her face had been cut so that it appeared that she was smiling with a ruby red lips. On her chest though was where most on looker’s eyes seemed to fall. On her chest was the marking of an ancient species that was thought to have been wiped out eons ago, demons. Kado’s grip tightened to the point that his fist become pure white with several veins popping out. “Ring the bells! Men, gather your weapons! Women, children, and the elderly get to the town hall right away!” The crowd immediately scurried away, woman clutched their children tightly to their bossism while the few men that stayed behind attempted to cut Rebecca down from the door. Soon the bells of the village rang loudly all the while the ominous glow in the north seemed to become brighter and brighter.
“They are coming Kado, Becca warned you about this. We must flee.” A soft feminine voice danced in Kado’s ears. As he turned around he was met by the younger sister of Rebecca, Freya. Freya bore a striking resemblance to her sister, she had long, golden hair that seemed to flow peacefully in the winter’s wind. He stood there wearing an elegant light blue gown, on the collar, cuffs, and base of the gown were the fur of a breed of wolf that was native to this area of the world. She had a matching fur hat covering her head and ears. Her golden eyes pierced even through the darkness of the night and right into the very soul of Kado. Freya might have been the younger sister of Rebecca but she was gifted with magical abilities that rivaled that of her sisters. In actuality Freya scared Kado more than Rebecca, her presence was stronger and much more dignified, Rebecca was a meek and kind woman while Freya was at times harsh and strict, and she often was seen scolding her sister for multitude of reasons. Kado’s grip loosened slightly as he saw the young beauty.
“Freya…” In the presence of such a woman even the brute Kado was somewhat tamed. Freya was poised to actually become Kado’s wife once the Winter Equinox occurred, just a short week away. He took the few steps to reach the frail looking woman. He placed his massive palm on her shoulder and gazed into her eyes, only to find that they seemed to be looking past him and to the sight of the Freya’s fallen sister’s corpse. “Freya, you should not be here. You must get to the town hall with the others and give them comfort, out here is where the men need to be.” Her gazed flickered instantly to a look of scorn directed right towards Kado. She shrugged Kado’s hand off of her shoulder and took a step to the side. “Do not think of me as some simple woman, Kado of Geirastaoir, you may be called the Bear of the North but a bear cannot even defend himself if his enemy is a pack of hungry wolves.” She walked over to the corpse and placed her hand on her sister’s once shimmering gold eyes. She closed her own and took a deep breath as she tried to call upon the spirit of her sister but had no such luck. Kado stood there and stared at the young shaman and tried to make sense of what might have been going through her head.
After a few seconds of silence Freya’s eyes opened and she let out the breath that she just took. She closed her sister’s eye lids and stood up. In the pale light of the night sky Kado made out a slight tremble in Freya’s stance it seemed that she was scared, something he had never seen the beauty ever show. She turned around and faced Kado with a new look of pure gravity on her face. “They are coming for me and for Rebecca’s boy. Nobody in this village will be able to stand up to their strength Kado, it is best to evacuate them like me and Becca warned you to do.” Kado covered the ground to Freya in a mere instant something that she was not fully expecting which was shown by the slight shock on her face once she felt Kado’s tight embrace. “Do not fret my dear Freya, I Kado the Bear of the Northern Woods will not let harm come to you or the young Memphis, nor to any other member of this community.”
A slight tear rolled from Freya’s cheek before falling on her robe’s fur. She felt Kado’s warmth surround her and heard his heart beat echo throughout her ears. She inhaled his strong scent, letting its smoky aroma drown her in a moment of ecstasy and comfort. Freya knew that tonight would be the last night that she would ever see the man that was her true love in this plane of existence ever again, his fate was sealed with his own pride. After the embrace ended Freya wiped her eyes dry of the tears and composed herself back to her normal stance. “I must find Memphis and protect him, he is the only other of my blood that is still alive, I must be with him.” As she spoke it seemed that a fire had caught elsewhere in the village, the flames had roared into the sky causing both Freya and Kado to turn their attention to it. Both Kado and Freya’s faces became pale as they realized that the light of the fire had came from the town hall, where all the citizens were supposed to be heading towards. “Kado….” Was all that Freya was able to let slip from her mouth. The large warrior’s face quickly changed from that of fear and shock to anger and determination. “Find Memphis and get to safety Freya.” That was the last sentence that Freya would ever hear from Kado’s mouth. Kado took off towards the town hall while Freya went the other direction towards the local church where Memphis had been sleeping at as of late.
The time was approaching four in the morning in the dead of winter but the sky was filled with a reddish color and the air around them was becoming hot as mid summer weather. Freya ran frantically throughout the streets of the village heading right towards the simple looking church which seemed to have also been set ablaze. A lone figure stood outside the church, while it looked human like Freya knew instantly that this being was something much darker. She held out her hand and sent a surge of her magic out causing a sudden spring of roots and vines to blast right at the figure. The being had a sinister looking smile cross its face while a dark red flame danced from its skin right towards the plants that were headed towards it. While it was distracted Freya let her magic run wild causing trees to sprout and fully grow all throughout the village causing it to almost become a forest itself. Her fear and rage was causing her magic to become much stronger and wild than ever before. The creature was overwhelmed by the sheer number of plants that were coming to life and was quickly defeated by Freya. “Memphis!!!!!! Where are you? Memphis!!!” She screamed as loud as her voice would become though it was probably muffled by the sound of flames and screams of the villagers.
From the chaos a child’s cries caught Freya’s attention. Her gaze darted about trying to pinpoint the origin of the voice until she notice a small figure hiding underneath an ox cart. The boy was holding his ears screaming while tears poured down his face, his golden hair a mess and covered in dirt. Freya’s heart skipped a beat as she noticed that it was in fact her nephew Memphis. She ran over to the child and embraced him as tight as her muscles would allow. “Memphis, my sweet boy, shh, shh, its okay. I’m here now.” The boy looked up into the eyes of his aunt and slowly started to calm down. “Aunt Freya, where is my mommy? I’m so scared, somebody killed the priest, I hid under a pew but then they set the church on fire, I barely made it out.” Freya stared deep into Memphis’ eyes trying to get a grip on the emotional child. “We have to get out of here Memph, there is no time to explain, we have to go.” At that Freya and Memphis fled the village and the demons that attacked it. They ran far from that cursed village for nearly three years before the demons caught up to Freya and Memphis. She had done her best to keep Memphis’ identify a secret so that he would not have to live a life like her and Rebecca had lived, in constant fear of demons hunting him down. Eventually at Fiore’s border the demons had caught up to Memphis and her. She sacrificed herself for Memphis’ freedom. While the young boy was no longer hunted down by the demons he was also untrained and unaware of the power that he possessed in him.
While Memph was not trained in a particular magic or skills his blood held the potential for such things. Once he was separated from his aunt he bounced around the world, working at various places, doing various jobs, and learning different set of skills from all manner of people. Over time his magical talent seemed to start to blossom around the age of ten while his Shamanistic skills had already been developing for multiple years prior to that. Once he turned ten though he noticed that plants seemed to naturally grow rather quickly when he was present, if he slept on the ground the next day the grass around him would have sprung up and grown twice or three times as high as it was the night before. This lead Memphis to seek the teachings of mages to get a better understanding on the latent powers that rested in him. Memphis practiced with all sorts of different tutors and mages until he realized that what he possessed in him was a magic that none of them could ever attempt to explain or teach him, he was fifteen years old at this point in time. His shamanistic powers were developing rather splendidly even if his magical skills were a bit rusty. He had learned that he possessed the skills to speak with the spirits of the dead and gain knowledge from them. While he kept such skills a secret from others, something that his aunt thought he should do, it did not stop him from seeking assistance from the dead in order to understand the magic that he was blessed with. One particular spirit seemed to almost be drawn to Memphis, a practitioner of a Lost magic known as Gaia’s Garden. From that point on Memphis knew at least what it was that he was blessed with and sought books and information on the lost magic. Over the course of the next three years Memphis practiced the basics of the magic in solitude for fear that such a distinctive magic would give away his true identity.
Memphis now an eighteen year old man. He entered the small town of Hargeon in the early hours of the day at the start of spring. The cold sea mist brushed on his rosy cheeks, while the smell of fish and smoke filled his nose. Memphis stood on the outskirts of the town wearing a simple outfit consisting of blue jean pants, brown leather boots, and a tight fitting dark blue sweater. The rocky ground he stood on seemed to in a manner of moments went from a lifeless gray mass to being covered in a thin layer of green moss. A small smile crossed Memph’s face as he looked down and saw the moss slowly creeping along the whole cliff side. Today was going to be a good day, he could already tell. He picked up a rather tattered bag from the ground beside him and slung it over his shoulder before he proceed to walk towards the cobble path into the town.
By the time he got the gates of the village the sun had broken through the morning fog and started warm up the frost that covered the buildings and ground. Villagers seemed to slowly be stirring from their homes as the sound of carts and people gradually grew. It was the first time in three years since Memphis had entered any human settlements. He had grown a great deal in the three years’ time, puberty really had taken effect in more ways than one. His doubted that any person that had known him when he was younger would even recognize him. Over the course of the last year he had practiced with a spirit of a great mage who constantly kept changing his name on Memph so much that he just opted to call him Ol’ Greenie. Greenie taught him the basic principle of tapping into the life force of the world around him and bend it to his will. If one were to go deep enough into the woods that Memphis trained in they would quickly find that most of the plants in that area were much larger than normal, some even mutated to suit a better need for Memph.
Memphis stopped at a local shop that seemed to be selling some local pastries. The second his nose caught whiff of them his stomach instantly started growling uncontrollably. He had yet to eat today and the food in the shop looked scrumptious. “Hello Ma’am, do you think that I might purchase that strawberry tart in the center?” The little old shop keeper reached into the case and pulled out the tart she handed it to Memphis while he dug into his pocket trying to find some of the jewels that he had saved. As he was counting them out a rather large boom sound caught his and all those in the town’s attention. He turned around to look towards the port where several black flags dotted the port. Pirates?” He placed the jewels on the counter and took a quick bite out of the tart before spiriting towards the port. With each step he took small tuffs of grass would grow from the cobble showing his magical pressure radiating off of him.
He got to the port and saw that several of the other ships there had been struck by cannon fire and a pirate ship seemed to have already docked. With the Magic Council weakened and in ruins Memphis knew that the fate of this town was sealed, everybody here would die unless he could do something to stop it. He had not seen any pirates surface yet so his attention was focused on keeping the ships that were struck by the cannon afloat. He closed his eyes and focused on the ground around him, though being a port town there was still life all around even in the sea itself. He focused on the seaweed that seemed to be in abundance in this area causing it to grow more and more each second. In his mind he had the clear picture of the seaweed wrapping around the ships keeping the water from entering their haul. He outstretched his hand send wave after wave of his magical energy into the seaweed until it started to bend to his will. Slowly it wrapped itself around each of the three ships that were struck until they were all covered in a thick dark green wrap. He let out a deep breath as he marveled at his work, he was surprised that he could manipulate so much plant life from such a distance since the ships were out in the harbor while he stood on the dock, but he wasn’t going to complain about it.
By the time he had finished that feat he noticed that the ships of the pirates were pouring out with the scum, only one of the ships was able to dock at the port while the others were still in the harbor. Those out in the harbor were pouring out in row boats towards the town. Their numbers dotted close to twelve row boats total. Memphis would use the same idea of manipulating the seaweed but this time in a different manner. He sent surges of his magic once again to the plant beneath the ocean’s surface soon multiple strands of the plant would wrap around each of the row boats, he would push them all off the surface of the water by several feet. Even from here he could hear the screams of the men as they were unaware of what was going on. A slight bit of blood trickled from his nose as he made a gripping motion with his hand prompting the seaweed to constrict snapping the rowboats in two and causing their passenger’s to be dropped into the cold ocean’s waters. Memphis had exerted too much energy in that feat and was forced to drop to a knee. Heavily breathing he muttered “Damn I didn’t think that would exhaust me so much and there is still that ship that docked. I’m sure there is some enemies running rampant around there.” He took a second to gather his energy and stood up brushing off his pants.
With a tight grip fist he made his way to the ship that was already docked and the screams of civilians. People were scrambling about madly while dirty and brutish looking men sacked the town. It seemed to Memphis that the pirates that docked were still in the close vicinity so he could possibly stop their movements if he acted quick. He placed both his palms on the ground and pumped magic into it, manipulating the plants here was much easier than manipulating the seaweed, he was not having to push himself as much. Soon roots and vines sprung from the ground around the dock area in such a great quantity that they created a thick wall trapping the pirates in this area alone. It seemed that Memphis’ actions caught the attention of a few of the pirates. Yo, what do you think you’re doing mage? Trying to be a hero? A single mage could never hope to beat the likes of the Vixious Pirates.” Memphis smirked as he stood up while gathering more of his magical energy.
“I don’t think you guys know what kind of a situation you’ve gotten yourselves in.” A smirk crossed his face as he made a hand movement causing plants to sprout from underneath the three of them. The vines wrapped and covered the pirates until they were mummified leaving only an opening for their mouths so that they could breath. “Now which one of you wants to tell me who is in charge around here?” Before he could get an answer a blast of lightning whizzed right past his face striking each man dead center in their chest. A look of shock filled Memph’s face. He spun around to see a man adorned in gold and silver standing there making a gun motion with his hand. “Now now a dead man cant tell no tells know can he?” the man let out a chuckle that showed his rotting teeth. He made another motion with his fingers shooting another blast of lightning right at Memphis. Acting quickly Memphis causing the plants to propel him into the air avoiding the attack.
He landed not too far from his previous location with a serious look on his face. “Were those men not your soldiers? Why kill them instead of trying to save them?” His tone was stern and his golden eyes mimicked that of an angered fox. The pirate made several more gun motions launching blast after blast of lightning all the while laughing hysterically. “Why not just dance for me instead of trying to talk. Let’s see if your plants can keep you safe forever.” Memphis held his handout reveling a simple seed which instantly sprouted into a wooden shield that took all the lightning blast. With his other hand he launched a blast of his magic which caused several spores of mold and fungus to mutate and expand into his own bullet like attack which seemed to meet the lightning pirate’s electric aura being burnt to a crisp. “Not too shabby plant boy but how much can you handle?” A clap of his hand caused a massive bolt of lightning to come from the heavens and directly strike Memphis sending pain throughout his entire body. Memphis fell to both his knees as the smell of brunt flesh and hair wafted all around him.
The enemy before him was no joke, he needed to utilize everything that he had learned for the past three years for this one moment. He clinched his fist gathering every bit of his magical power. As he did such the whole area around him seemed to bloom to life startling the lightning mage. “I see that you have no shame, I guess I have no reason to hold back on you now then do I?” The lightning mage attempted to make a gun motion with his hand but was much to his surprised stopped by a sudden root that grew and completely wrapped around his hand. As he attempted to use the other for the same purpose a second root would grab it. As this occurred Memphis slowly staggered to a standing position. Blood was coming from his lip and nose but he paid it no mind. He outstretched his hand towards the man. In an instant the ground started to crack and break as roots and vines surged from below. They would whip at the man relentlessly until he was nothing more than a bruised and broken man.
Memphis let out a rather large sigh once he realized that the Lightning pirate was taken care of. He was starting to breathe rather heavy and his knees had started to buckle slightly. As he started to cause the wooden walls he crafted to retreat the presence of another person with high magical energy. He instantly dropped to one knee and placed both his hands on the ground trying to gather the natural energy found in the ground. He was not given much time nor notice as a figure almost instantly appeared right beside him. In a fluid motion the new Mage released a powerful kick right into Memphis' rib cage. The kick's strength was enough to knock Memph right into the air where he would be left wide open for an attack. Thinking quickly Melphis caused a vine to sprout from his left shoulder blade, with a direct path to the closest build. The vine would wrap around a column and pull Memphis right to the building allowing him to avoid being struck by another blow. Before even a second passed since he landed the new enemy was already rushing right towards Memphis.
Damn it, they're using some sort of high speed magic it seems. Memphis snapped his fingers causing trees to sprout all over the area, Memphis was just trying to cause some sort of obstacles in his way. This also gave Memphis a way to gain some advantage in this sort of battle. He placed his hand on a tree right beside him while a smirk crossed his face. Just as the high speed user was nearing him, Memphis would instantly slip into the tree and travel through the root network reappearing right behind the man. He emerged from the tree completely aiming to tackle the man to the ground and from there maybe bind him there. Right as Memphis's arms were about to connect with the enemy, the high speed user would spin around kicking Memphis once again right in his chest and right back into the tree that he had emerged from. With his ribs now completely broken Memphis' lungs would fill ever so slightly with blood, causing Memphis to to cough up several mouthfuls of blood.
For a brief moment Memphis felt as if he was going to die, as did the high speed user since they stopped their attacks just to watch their victim take his last breaths. As Memphis' eyes slowly closed he used his last bit of energy to stimulate his entire body causing a massive surge in healing. His ribs quickly mended, the burns from the Lightning Mage faded away and his strength started to return to him all the while the high speed user just stood unaware. As the figures took a few steps towards him, Memphis started to gather the magical power all around him that he could. As the enemy placed their foot on the ground Memphis struck. He smashed his fist into the ground causing a massive surge of vines to rip through the earth trying to wrap around the enemy, but they were too fast for even his plants. While they were distracted Memphis would use his magic to once again slip into the trees. He would this time appear much further away than he did the last time. As he emerged he had already begun activating his next spell, which happened to be his fastest and one of the most deadly. [color=gold] "Let's see how fast you can dodge."[/spoiler]
As if from a dream thousands of flower petals filled the air, effortlessly dancing about. With a simple flick of the wrist the petals went from a peaceful dance to a flurry of blades that torn apart the whole area. The high speed user started dashing from building to building bouncing off each one trying to avoid the petals trying to cover the ground between the two but Memph was not going to let that happen. Just as the high speed user was approaching him a small smirk crossed Memoh face as the petals instantly came out of nowhere making a wall of petals. The petals would ravage the other makes body, constantly tearing as his flesh. That's how high speed users tended to be, rather fragile when it came to their actual body, all they were good for was dodging. The man shot free from the petals, now realizing that Memohis had fully recovered probably knew that they were done for. As the man ran Memphis would cause the ground to crack and cave as the roots beneath the streets tunneling and spreading. As the man was starting to get too far away dozens of roots ripped from the ground and lunched at him. This time they were able to grab their target since he had been slowed down from his previous wounds, plus he had to have been getting tired from exerting so much energy. Now that he was caught Memphis could deliver a strong blow with another vine to the man's back neck rendering him unconscious. When Memphis assessed that he was no longer a threat he eased up on the attack and instead wrapped the man completely in the roots to keep him from moving any further. The other pirates around soon took note of the man that took out their captain and threw down their weapons for fear of a similar fate. It was not too much longer that local mages of the town turned up and started to subdue the other pirates. Once they arrived Memphis released his magical pressure on the area and caused the wooden wall he crafted to retreat back into the ground. He was tired and dizzy, too much of his magic was used at once but he had warded off the pirates from doing too much pillaging on the town. He had become a local hero and praised for such a deed. If anything it showed Memphis that his three years of training paid off greatly and that this was only the start on his path to gaining strength and becoming a world class mage. His fate in life was unknown to him then but it was apparent that Memphis Surus would one day become a mage that would have stories of his feats read for centuries to follow.
Rebecca was a kind woman who had blessed the village with much prosperity since she arrived nearly six years before with her sister Freya. Rebecca’s limpness body was strung up hanging over her door. All of her cloths had been ripped away, save for a sliver of cloth that covered her groin area. Her face had been cut so that it appeared that she was smiling with a ruby red lips. On her chest though was where most on looker’s eyes seemed to fall. On her chest was the marking of an ancient species that was thought to have been wiped out eons ago, demons. Kado’s grip tightened to the point that his fist become pure white with several veins popping out. “Ring the bells! Men, gather your weapons! Women, children, and the elderly get to the town hall right away!” The crowd immediately scurried away, woman clutched their children tightly to their bossism while the few men that stayed behind attempted to cut Rebecca down from the door. Soon the bells of the village rang loudly all the while the ominous glow in the north seemed to become brighter and brighter.
“They are coming Kado, Becca warned you about this. We must flee.” A soft feminine voice danced in Kado’s ears. As he turned around he was met by the younger sister of Rebecca, Freya. Freya bore a striking resemblance to her sister, she had long, golden hair that seemed to flow peacefully in the winter’s wind. He stood there wearing an elegant light blue gown, on the collar, cuffs, and base of the gown were the fur of a breed of wolf that was native to this area of the world. She had a matching fur hat covering her head and ears. Her golden eyes pierced even through the darkness of the night and right into the very soul of Kado. Freya might have been the younger sister of Rebecca but she was gifted with magical abilities that rivaled that of her sisters. In actuality Freya scared Kado more than Rebecca, her presence was stronger and much more dignified, Rebecca was a meek and kind woman while Freya was at times harsh and strict, and she often was seen scolding her sister for multitude of reasons. Kado’s grip loosened slightly as he saw the young beauty.
“Freya…” In the presence of such a woman even the brute Kado was somewhat tamed. Freya was poised to actually become Kado’s wife once the Winter Equinox occurred, just a short week away. He took the few steps to reach the frail looking woman. He placed his massive palm on her shoulder and gazed into her eyes, only to find that they seemed to be looking past him and to the sight of the Freya’s fallen sister’s corpse. “Freya, you should not be here. You must get to the town hall with the others and give them comfort, out here is where the men need to be.” Her gazed flickered instantly to a look of scorn directed right towards Kado. She shrugged Kado’s hand off of her shoulder and took a step to the side. “Do not think of me as some simple woman, Kado of Geirastaoir, you may be called the Bear of the North but a bear cannot even defend himself if his enemy is a pack of hungry wolves.” She walked over to the corpse and placed her hand on her sister’s once shimmering gold eyes. She closed her own and took a deep breath as she tried to call upon the spirit of her sister but had no such luck. Kado stood there and stared at the young shaman and tried to make sense of what might have been going through her head.
After a few seconds of silence Freya’s eyes opened and she let out the breath that she just took. She closed her sister’s eye lids and stood up. In the pale light of the night sky Kado made out a slight tremble in Freya’s stance it seemed that she was scared, something he had never seen the beauty ever show. She turned around and faced Kado with a new look of pure gravity on her face. “They are coming for me and for Rebecca’s boy. Nobody in this village will be able to stand up to their strength Kado, it is best to evacuate them like me and Becca warned you to do.” Kado covered the ground to Freya in a mere instant something that she was not fully expecting which was shown by the slight shock on her face once she felt Kado’s tight embrace. “Do not fret my dear Freya, I Kado the Bear of the Northern Woods will not let harm come to you or the young Memphis, nor to any other member of this community.”
A slight tear rolled from Freya’s cheek before falling on her robe’s fur. She felt Kado’s warmth surround her and heard his heart beat echo throughout her ears. She inhaled his strong scent, letting its smoky aroma drown her in a moment of ecstasy and comfort. Freya knew that tonight would be the last night that she would ever see the man that was her true love in this plane of existence ever again, his fate was sealed with his own pride. After the embrace ended Freya wiped her eyes dry of the tears and composed herself back to her normal stance. “I must find Memphis and protect him, he is the only other of my blood that is still alive, I must be with him.” As she spoke it seemed that a fire had caught elsewhere in the village, the flames had roared into the sky causing both Freya and Kado to turn their attention to it. Both Kado and Freya’s faces became pale as they realized that the light of the fire had came from the town hall, where all the citizens were supposed to be heading towards. “Kado….” Was all that Freya was able to let slip from her mouth. The large warrior’s face quickly changed from that of fear and shock to anger and determination. “Find Memphis and get to safety Freya.” That was the last sentence that Freya would ever hear from Kado’s mouth. Kado took off towards the town hall while Freya went the other direction towards the local church where Memphis had been sleeping at as of late.
The time was approaching four in the morning in the dead of winter but the sky was filled with a reddish color and the air around them was becoming hot as mid summer weather. Freya ran frantically throughout the streets of the village heading right towards the simple looking church which seemed to have also been set ablaze. A lone figure stood outside the church, while it looked human like Freya knew instantly that this being was something much darker. She held out her hand and sent a surge of her magic out causing a sudden spring of roots and vines to blast right at the figure. The being had a sinister looking smile cross its face while a dark red flame danced from its skin right towards the plants that were headed towards it. While it was distracted Freya let her magic run wild causing trees to sprout and fully grow all throughout the village causing it to almost become a forest itself. Her fear and rage was causing her magic to become much stronger and wild than ever before. The creature was overwhelmed by the sheer number of plants that were coming to life and was quickly defeated by Freya. “Memphis!!!!!! Where are you? Memphis!!!” She screamed as loud as her voice would become though it was probably muffled by the sound of flames and screams of the villagers.
From the chaos a child’s cries caught Freya’s attention. Her gaze darted about trying to pinpoint the origin of the voice until she notice a small figure hiding underneath an ox cart. The boy was holding his ears screaming while tears poured down his face, his golden hair a mess and covered in dirt. Freya’s heart skipped a beat as she noticed that it was in fact her nephew Memphis. She ran over to the child and embraced him as tight as her muscles would allow. “Memphis, my sweet boy, shh, shh, its okay. I’m here now.” The boy looked up into the eyes of his aunt and slowly started to calm down. “Aunt Freya, where is my mommy? I’m so scared, somebody killed the priest, I hid under a pew but then they set the church on fire, I barely made it out.” Freya stared deep into Memphis’ eyes trying to get a grip on the emotional child. “We have to get out of here Memph, there is no time to explain, we have to go.” At that Freya and Memphis fled the village and the demons that attacked it. They ran far from that cursed village for nearly three years before the demons caught up to Freya and Memphis. She had done her best to keep Memphis’ identify a secret so that he would not have to live a life like her and Rebecca had lived, in constant fear of demons hunting him down. Eventually at Fiore’s border the demons had caught up to Memphis and her. She sacrificed herself for Memphis’ freedom. While the young boy was no longer hunted down by the demons he was also untrained and unaware of the power that he possessed in him.
While Memph was not trained in a particular magic or skills his blood held the potential for such things. Once he was separated from his aunt he bounced around the world, working at various places, doing various jobs, and learning different set of skills from all manner of people. Over time his magical talent seemed to start to blossom around the age of ten while his Shamanistic skills had already been developing for multiple years prior to that. Once he turned ten though he noticed that plants seemed to naturally grow rather quickly when he was present, if he slept on the ground the next day the grass around him would have sprung up and grown twice or three times as high as it was the night before. This lead Memphis to seek the teachings of mages to get a better understanding on the latent powers that rested in him. Memphis practiced with all sorts of different tutors and mages until he realized that what he possessed in him was a magic that none of them could ever attempt to explain or teach him, he was fifteen years old at this point in time. His shamanistic powers were developing rather splendidly even if his magical skills were a bit rusty. He had learned that he possessed the skills to speak with the spirits of the dead and gain knowledge from them. While he kept such skills a secret from others, something that his aunt thought he should do, it did not stop him from seeking assistance from the dead in order to understand the magic that he was blessed with. One particular spirit seemed to almost be drawn to Memphis, a practitioner of a Lost magic known as Gaia’s Garden. From that point on Memphis knew at least what it was that he was blessed with and sought books and information on the lost magic. Over the course of the next three years Memphis practiced the basics of the magic in solitude for fear that such a distinctive magic would give away his true identity.
Memphis now an eighteen year old man. He entered the small town of Hargeon in the early hours of the day at the start of spring. The cold sea mist brushed on his rosy cheeks, while the smell of fish and smoke filled his nose. Memphis stood on the outskirts of the town wearing a simple outfit consisting of blue jean pants, brown leather boots, and a tight fitting dark blue sweater. The rocky ground he stood on seemed to in a manner of moments went from a lifeless gray mass to being covered in a thin layer of green moss. A small smile crossed Memph’s face as he looked down and saw the moss slowly creeping along the whole cliff side. Today was going to be a good day, he could already tell. He picked up a rather tattered bag from the ground beside him and slung it over his shoulder before he proceed to walk towards the cobble path into the town.
By the time he got the gates of the village the sun had broken through the morning fog and started warm up the frost that covered the buildings and ground. Villagers seemed to slowly be stirring from their homes as the sound of carts and people gradually grew. It was the first time in three years since Memphis had entered any human settlements. He had grown a great deal in the three years’ time, puberty really had taken effect in more ways than one. His doubted that any person that had known him when he was younger would even recognize him. Over the course of the last year he had practiced with a spirit of a great mage who constantly kept changing his name on Memph so much that he just opted to call him Ol’ Greenie. Greenie taught him the basic principle of tapping into the life force of the world around him and bend it to his will. If one were to go deep enough into the woods that Memphis trained in they would quickly find that most of the plants in that area were much larger than normal, some even mutated to suit a better need for Memph.
Memphis stopped at a local shop that seemed to be selling some local pastries. The second his nose caught whiff of them his stomach instantly started growling uncontrollably. He had yet to eat today and the food in the shop looked scrumptious. “Hello Ma’am, do you think that I might purchase that strawberry tart in the center?” The little old shop keeper reached into the case and pulled out the tart she handed it to Memphis while he dug into his pocket trying to find some of the jewels that he had saved. As he was counting them out a rather large boom sound caught his and all those in the town’s attention. He turned around to look towards the port where several black flags dotted the port. Pirates?” He placed the jewels on the counter and took a quick bite out of the tart before spiriting towards the port. With each step he took small tuffs of grass would grow from the cobble showing his magical pressure radiating off of him.
He got to the port and saw that several of the other ships there had been struck by cannon fire and a pirate ship seemed to have already docked. With the Magic Council weakened and in ruins Memphis knew that the fate of this town was sealed, everybody here would die unless he could do something to stop it. He had not seen any pirates surface yet so his attention was focused on keeping the ships that were struck by the cannon afloat. He closed his eyes and focused on the ground around him, though being a port town there was still life all around even in the sea itself. He focused on the seaweed that seemed to be in abundance in this area causing it to grow more and more each second. In his mind he had the clear picture of the seaweed wrapping around the ships keeping the water from entering their haul. He outstretched his hand send wave after wave of his magical energy into the seaweed until it started to bend to his will. Slowly it wrapped itself around each of the three ships that were struck until they were all covered in a thick dark green wrap. He let out a deep breath as he marveled at his work, he was surprised that he could manipulate so much plant life from such a distance since the ships were out in the harbor while he stood on the dock, but he wasn’t going to complain about it.
By the time he had finished that feat he noticed that the ships of the pirates were pouring out with the scum, only one of the ships was able to dock at the port while the others were still in the harbor. Those out in the harbor were pouring out in row boats towards the town. Their numbers dotted close to twelve row boats total. Memphis would use the same idea of manipulating the seaweed but this time in a different manner. He sent surges of his magic once again to the plant beneath the ocean’s surface soon multiple strands of the plant would wrap around each of the row boats, he would push them all off the surface of the water by several feet. Even from here he could hear the screams of the men as they were unaware of what was going on. A slight bit of blood trickled from his nose as he made a gripping motion with his hand prompting the seaweed to constrict snapping the rowboats in two and causing their passenger’s to be dropped into the cold ocean’s waters. Memphis had exerted too much energy in that feat and was forced to drop to a knee. Heavily breathing he muttered “Damn I didn’t think that would exhaust me so much and there is still that ship that docked. I’m sure there is some enemies running rampant around there.” He took a second to gather his energy and stood up brushing off his pants.
With a tight grip fist he made his way to the ship that was already docked and the screams of civilians. People were scrambling about madly while dirty and brutish looking men sacked the town. It seemed to Memphis that the pirates that docked were still in the close vicinity so he could possibly stop their movements if he acted quick. He placed both his palms on the ground and pumped magic into it, manipulating the plants here was much easier than manipulating the seaweed, he was not having to push himself as much. Soon roots and vines sprung from the ground around the dock area in such a great quantity that they created a thick wall trapping the pirates in this area alone. It seemed that Memphis’ actions caught the attention of a few of the pirates. Yo, what do you think you’re doing mage? Trying to be a hero? A single mage could never hope to beat the likes of the Vixious Pirates.” Memphis smirked as he stood up while gathering more of his magical energy.
“I don’t think you guys know what kind of a situation you’ve gotten yourselves in.” A smirk crossed his face as he made a hand movement causing plants to sprout from underneath the three of them. The vines wrapped and covered the pirates until they were mummified leaving only an opening for their mouths so that they could breath. “Now which one of you wants to tell me who is in charge around here?” Before he could get an answer a blast of lightning whizzed right past his face striking each man dead center in their chest. A look of shock filled Memph’s face. He spun around to see a man adorned in gold and silver standing there making a gun motion with his hand. “Now now a dead man cant tell no tells know can he?” the man let out a chuckle that showed his rotting teeth. He made another motion with his fingers shooting another blast of lightning right at Memphis. Acting quickly Memphis causing the plants to propel him into the air avoiding the attack.
He landed not too far from his previous location with a serious look on his face. “Were those men not your soldiers? Why kill them instead of trying to save them?” His tone was stern and his golden eyes mimicked that of an angered fox. The pirate made several more gun motions launching blast after blast of lightning all the while laughing hysterically. “Why not just dance for me instead of trying to talk. Let’s see if your plants can keep you safe forever.” Memphis held his handout reveling a simple seed which instantly sprouted into a wooden shield that took all the lightning blast. With his other hand he launched a blast of his magic which caused several spores of mold and fungus to mutate and expand into his own bullet like attack which seemed to meet the lightning pirate’s electric aura being burnt to a crisp. “Not too shabby plant boy but how much can you handle?” A clap of his hand caused a massive bolt of lightning to come from the heavens and directly strike Memphis sending pain throughout his entire body. Memphis fell to both his knees as the smell of brunt flesh and hair wafted all around him.
The enemy before him was no joke, he needed to utilize everything that he had learned for the past three years for this one moment. He clinched his fist gathering every bit of his magical power. As he did such the whole area around him seemed to bloom to life startling the lightning mage. “I see that you have no shame, I guess I have no reason to hold back on you now then do I?” The lightning mage attempted to make a gun motion with his hand but was much to his surprised stopped by a sudden root that grew and completely wrapped around his hand. As he attempted to use the other for the same purpose a second root would grab it. As this occurred Memphis slowly staggered to a standing position. Blood was coming from his lip and nose but he paid it no mind. He outstretched his hand towards the man. In an instant the ground started to crack and break as roots and vines surged from below. They would whip at the man relentlessly until he was nothing more than a bruised and broken man.
Memphis let out a rather large sigh once he realized that the Lightning pirate was taken care of. He was starting to breathe rather heavy and his knees had started to buckle slightly. As he started to cause the wooden walls he crafted to retreat the presence of another person with high magical energy. He instantly dropped to one knee and placed both his hands on the ground trying to gather the natural energy found in the ground. He was not given much time nor notice as a figure almost instantly appeared right beside him. In a fluid motion the new Mage released a powerful kick right into Memphis' rib cage. The kick's strength was enough to knock Memph right into the air where he would be left wide open for an attack. Thinking quickly Melphis caused a vine to sprout from his left shoulder blade, with a direct path to the closest build. The vine would wrap around a column and pull Memphis right to the building allowing him to avoid being struck by another blow. Before even a second passed since he landed the new enemy was already rushing right towards Memphis.
Damn it, they're using some sort of high speed magic it seems. Memphis snapped his fingers causing trees to sprout all over the area, Memphis was just trying to cause some sort of obstacles in his way. This also gave Memphis a way to gain some advantage in this sort of battle. He placed his hand on a tree right beside him while a smirk crossed his face. Just as the high speed user was nearing him, Memphis would instantly slip into the tree and travel through the root network reappearing right behind the man. He emerged from the tree completely aiming to tackle the man to the ground and from there maybe bind him there. Right as Memphis's arms were about to connect with the enemy, the high speed user would spin around kicking Memphis once again right in his chest and right back into the tree that he had emerged from. With his ribs now completely broken Memphis' lungs would fill ever so slightly with blood, causing Memphis to to cough up several mouthfuls of blood.
For a brief moment Memphis felt as if he was going to die, as did the high speed user since they stopped their attacks just to watch their victim take his last breaths. As Memphis' eyes slowly closed he used his last bit of energy to stimulate his entire body causing a massive surge in healing. His ribs quickly mended, the burns from the Lightning Mage faded away and his strength started to return to him all the while the high speed user just stood unaware. As the figures took a few steps towards him, Memphis started to gather the magical power all around him that he could. As the enemy placed their foot on the ground Memphis struck. He smashed his fist into the ground causing a massive surge of vines to rip through the earth trying to wrap around the enemy, but they were too fast for even his plants. While they were distracted Memphis would use his magic to once again slip into the trees. He would this time appear much further away than he did the last time. As he emerged he had already begun activating his next spell, which happened to be his fastest and one of the most deadly. [color=gold] "Let's see how fast you can dodge."[/spoiler]
As if from a dream thousands of flower petals filled the air, effortlessly dancing about. With a simple flick of the wrist the petals went from a peaceful dance to a flurry of blades that torn apart the whole area. The high speed user started dashing from building to building bouncing off each one trying to avoid the petals trying to cover the ground between the two but Memph was not going to let that happen. Just as the high speed user was approaching him a small smirk crossed Memoh face as the petals instantly came out of nowhere making a wall of petals. The petals would ravage the other makes body, constantly tearing as his flesh. That's how high speed users tended to be, rather fragile when it came to their actual body, all they were good for was dodging. The man shot free from the petals, now realizing that Memohis had fully recovered probably knew that they were done for. As the man ran Memphis would cause the ground to crack and cave as the roots beneath the streets tunneling and spreading. As the man was starting to get too far away dozens of roots ripped from the ground and lunched at him. This time they were able to grab their target since he had been slowed down from his previous wounds, plus he had to have been getting tired from exerting so much energy. Now that he was caught Memphis could deliver a strong blow with another vine to the man's back neck rendering him unconscious. When Memphis assessed that he was no longer a threat he eased up on the attack and instead wrapped the man completely in the roots to keep him from moving any further. The other pirates around soon took note of the man that took out their captain and threw down their weapons for fear of a similar fate. It was not too much longer that local mages of the town turned up and started to subdue the other pirates. Once they arrived Memphis released his magical pressure on the area and caused the wooden wall he crafted to retreat back into the ground. He was tired and dizzy, too much of his magic was used at once but he had warded off the pirates from doing too much pillaging on the town. He had become a local hero and praised for such a deed. If anything it showed Memphis that his three years of training paid off greatly and that this was only the start on his path to gaining strength and becoming a world class mage. His fate in life was unknown to him then but it was apparent that Memphis Surus would one day become a mage that would have stories of his feats read for centuries to follow.
