The dream of a thousand voices

Alastair gasped as he opened his eyes, the screams of the people around him echoing through the vast space that seemed to spread across an ethereal plane. He breathed heavily as he looked around, not knowing whether he was still alive or dead.

Then a mage ran straight towards him, screaming from the fire that was burning its flesh. Alastair raised his hands to protect his face from the screaming mage but the mage passed right through him.

Was it a dream? Dreams did not feel that way to him. He seemed alive and conscious but still, it was not quite a vision.

He began to walk slowly along the cold, dusty ground which looked clearer than crystal to the naked eye. Each step evoked a sensation of cold and a mass of dust. Alastair kept walking until he saw a smoky figure ahead. He looked closely and immediately recognized who it was.

Asmodeus!

Alastair felt a wave of anger come upon him and he ran towards the figure. The figure just stood still as he approached, but when he was about to grab the figure, it slowly turned to dust.

Alastair froze and took a look around. The screams were reducing now, and after not long, he was alone in the space. No sound, no apparitions, nothing.

Then he heard it speak.

"Alastair!"

Behind him, something was forming a shape, a large mass of black smoke crept up behind him and began to merge itself. Alastair turned around as it did, watching the mass getting fiery in some parts. Then, the mass suddenly formed the shape of a dragon and Alastair took a step back as Jaghryx's apparition stood before him.

"Alastair...it has been too long."

The dragon said to him and for a moment, Alastair was lost in thought. It broke his heart to see Jaghryx, or whatever it was.

The dragon breathed calmly as Alastair approached, and then, he looked up and clenched his fist.

"You are not Jaghryx."

The Dragon began to stand as he said the words. It was Asmodeus, it was all his doing.

Then, the dragon growled at him, opening his large mouth to shoot a stream of fire at him, but at that precise moment, Alastair woke up.

The girl was beginning to wake up as well. He had taken her back to his house after knocking the child out to let her recover. She slowly opened her eyes, looking around her with sleepy eyes before she quickly jumped to her feet.

"It's alright. You are safe now. Just calm down and take a seat." Alastair said to her but she took a step back. She did not trust him, and to be honest, he didn't trust her either.

"I am not going to harm you," Alastair added but she scoffed.

"It is rather too late to say that now, isn't it? You knocked me out with, whatever that was." She said to him and crossed her arms, legs ajar. Alastair could not believe the brat.

"Should I apologize for saving your life?" He asked her.

"Perhaps apologize for knocking me out?"

"If there's anyone here who should do any apologizing, it is you. You stole from me..." Alastair said and she immediately started to counter but he raised his hand to silence her. "... now, if you would kindly give that money back, I will consider not turning you into a cockroach at this very moment."

She scoffed again. "You can't do that."

"Try me."

He added and gave her a wicked smile. She rolled her eyes at him and reached into her pocket. Then, she brought out the money bag and tossed it at him.

"Thank you," Alastair said to her.

"Now what?" She asked, visibly angry from the way things had played out. But Alastair did not care about that. He wanted to know what made her so special that seven sorcerers set out to find her.

There had to be something and he was curious. He tried to see if he could feel Asmodeus' presence within her, but he couldn't. Then why did he have that effect with the sword earlier? It did not make any sense.

"Sit," Alastair said but she frowned at him, not taking a step forward. Then, he sighed and used his powers to drag her feet towards the bed. She gasped as he did, a surprised look shooting from her face.

"Hey!" She yelled at him as he forced her to seat on the bed.

"How old are you anyway? Fourteen?" Alastair asked.

"I'm sixteen, and I'm pretty sure this is kidnapping. I shall have you reported for this." She shot back.

"If you had such privileges, you wouldn't go around stealing from people, would you? Now, I need to know why those sorcerers were after you."

Her eyes lit up when he said "sorcerer."

"They were sorcerers? And what does that make you? A mage?" She asked.

"I..." He stopped. He didn't know what response to give to her. He was somehow caught in between both worlds and did not know where he quite belonged exactly.

"Look, I do not know why they were after me and even if I did, I would not tell you. So just let me go now." She said and pushed herself to stand, thinking he still had his powers exerted over her, but the force at which she stood nearly made her stumble. She groaned and cussed. There was something about her and he was going to find out.

Alastair stood up and stretched out his hand towards her. It suddenly began to light up and the girl took a step back

"What are you doing?" She asked him but he didn't reply. Then his light shone upon her, causing her to shield her eyes with her arms as Alastair watched in awe.

Mages had an energy that gave off Sparks when the soul-finding spell was cast. The amount of Sparks usually indicated how powerful a mage was at that moment, and when he looked at the densely packed Sparks that surrounded the girl, he realized that she might be the most powerful mage he had ever encountered.

Her Sparks seemed to be greater than even his when he still had a dragon. For a child her age to possess such power, there was something within her, something powerful, something the sorcerers wanted.

He was able to look into her menu

Name: Cara

Status: Mage

Energy Level: 3,000

Animal Companion: Unreadable

"Cara." He slowly whispered her name and she was surprised. The spell had revealed it to him.

But then, the whole house began to shake. Cara whimpered and dashed closer to Alastair as a large vine burst into the house and began to rip out the door. It was yet another encounter. The sorcerers had found them!