• ~Begin Chapter 9~

    "Now that we have all of the revelations out of the way, it's time we discussed your training," Loki said

    Nico gave the cat a quizzical look. "Training?

    Ever since Loki had told him the truth about Septum and the Bright Church Nico had been silent. Eventually Loki had told him that they needed to move on before the bats woke up for the night. How Loki knew what time it was in the tunnels was a mystery to Nico. They had trekked a few miles into a large dome like cavern before Loki gave him the word to stop.

    "You have to learn to control your powers," Loki told the youth. "That stunt you pulled with the storm clouds was an act of emotion, it is imperative that learn to control your new abilities."

    "You mean the ring's magic, right?" Nico said, having trouble understanding. "The ring allowed me to control the weather."

    "I thought you would have made the connection after what I showed you about Hurin," Loki told Nico, agitated. "I dislike having to spell things out."

    "Excuse me for my ignorance, but complaining won't inform me either," Nico said. "What powers are you talking about?"

    "You make a good point," conceded the strange feline. "You remember what Hurin did in the vision? How he was able to control the wind, shape the rock, and summon fire?"

    "Yeah, that was amazing," Nico answered. He gazed at the ring with awe. He couldn't comprehend that such a simple trinket could hold such immense power. "So now that I have the ring I could do things like that too?

    "Yes and no," Loki told the youth. "To explain i need to know how much you learned about Gaia."

    "Only some vague facts that the tutors at the Tower told me. Gaia is the name of the magic inside the earth itself right?"

    "Again you're half-right. Gaia is the magic inside the earth, but it is also the spirit of the earth."

    "Huh." Nico grunted blandly.

    "You don't seem very surprised," Loki said. He found Nico's indifference out of character.

    "After everything else that's happened lately, I think I'm surprised out."

    "Fair enough. Well just as any other living being, Gaia reacts to protect itself whenever it feels threatened. The biggest threat to the Earth is the imbalance of power or magic."

    "Imbalance?"

    "Whenever one type of magic becomes too powerful in the world, Gaia tries to find away to make things equal."

    "And how exactly does that fit in with the ring?"

    "I'm getting to that. Gaia has the power to control anything that it created. Plants, the air, water, fire, lightning, stone, and soil are all under Gaia's power. The problem is that Gaia does not have any senses. Gaia is merely an observer, she can't use her own power to interfere with animal or human actions."

    "Why?" Nico interrupted.

    "The laws that have existed since the dawn of the universe, we have no real idea of how it came to be, but when the universe first come into existence, there were barriers that were set to keep things apart."

    "I still see little connection between Gaia and the ring."

    "Well Gaia found one way to bypass the barrier between itself and the human realm."

    "Do tell," said Nico with mock enthusiasm. He was aggravated at his lack of knowledge, and was developing a deep loathing for the wizard tower scholars.

    "When a human is born, their spirit comes from Gaia's magic, and when they die the power is returned the Earth Spirit. This is known as the circle of life. When Gaia senses unrest on the horizon, it sends part of it's own magic into a random person."

    "But.. that would mean that the power would be in... me." Nico said, confused.

    "Precisely."

    "That doesn't make sense. Wouldn't that mean I would be able to do that stuff before. I was only able to change the weather after I got the ring."

    "That is part of the rings power," Loki responded quickly. Nico could tell he was losing patience. "When Gaia transfers magic into a human, it is rejected by the person's body. In order to keep the magic safe, Gaia forces the magic into dormancy. The person is completely unaware of the power inside until they put the ring on. By then, the human has unconsciously become accustomed to the magic's presence."

    "That makes sense...I guess" Nico still didn't know if this last part was true, it seemed so alien that this power had always been there. But regardless of it's origin's he couldn't repute the fact that he had made a storm vanish.

    "Now that we finally have the explanations out of the way we can-"

    "What's the ring's second power then? The one that you mentioned when we first met," Nico said, curious.

    Loki scooped up a rock in his paw and launched it at Nico's head. The stone struck Nico before he registered what the creature was doing. He felt a throbbing pain in his forehead. Rubbing the spot where the rock had struck, the boy glared at the cat.

    "What was that for?"

    "Don't interrupt me, I'm your teacher now."

    "And what exactly are you going to teach me?" Nico asked angrily. The sudden pain was making him short tempered.

    Instead of a reply, Nico was answered with a dark green flash of light. The next thing he knew he was being propelled through the air. He landed on his back in the center of the dome-like cave. There was a echoing roar from Loki, too loud for any animal (cat or panther) to make naturally. The next thing Nico knew, dozens of huge boulders were plummeting straight towards him.
    *****************************

    Mora jerked open her eyes, fear racing through her. All she could remember was the encroaching darkness from Leera's assault on her mind. Her own heartbeat seemed deafening to her.

    Mora frantically tried to move her body, and found that her arms and legs were still bound. Furthermore she noticed that that she was being carried, slung over somebody's shoulder like a sack. Her whole body felt weak, as if all her energy had been sucked out, like water through a drain.

    Her carrier noticed that she was awake and flung her to the ground. Landing on her side Mora looked up at her captor. Martin stood above her, a dull lifeless look on his face.

    "Looks like the Princess finally woke up," said Leera. She walked over to the young royal with milk-souring expression on her face.

    "It seems you were able to fight off my slave-spell. Oh well, it works better on the opposite sex any way, seeing as how boys only think with their penises," Said Leera. "All it takes is a little wave, or a gentle touch, and they're putty in my hands." She accompanied this with a sad, vulnerable pout, feigning tears. "It's pathetic."

    "Apparently it won't work on Nico," Replied Mora struggling to keep awake, using her anger and hatred towards her form peer to keep herself aware. "Otherwise you wouldn't have kept me as a bartering chip."

    "You're simply part of a contingency plan. Nico has become a sort of wild card now that he's gone missing."

    "Missing?" questioned Mora. "Where has he gone."

    "For royalty, you're certainly dumb. If i knew where he had gone he wouldn't be missing now would he?" Leera told her captive. "He seems to have walked off the face of the earth, I can't track his magic anymore. So either he's gained power from the charm he was given and he can mask his magic, or far more likely, he's dead.

    "Or maybe you're just horrible at spells!" cried Mora. She knew that wasn't the reason. Nico had never been an exceptional wizard, he had always been average, nothing special. Mora had feared for Nico when he was chosen for the quest. If she hadn't been afraid of insulting him, she would have told him not to go at all.

    "Worried about your pitiful boyfriend are you?" asked Leera in a mocking tone. "Well don't worry, odds are you'll get to see him in the beyond soon enough."

    "So what, you're going to kill me?" Mora said in a false-defiance. She was shaken by Nico's almost certain end, but for her own sake she needed to put up a brave front.

    "Oh I won't have to kill you," Said Leera, her eyes glinting maliciously. The smug smile she always wore flashed across her face. "We're just a few miles away from the edge of the Crater of Mephestis."

    ~End chapter 9~