Knots in the Ties
Jack's Challenge
“I know, that you’ve been having a hard time with using your magick," my past self told me. “Pure magick is harder to master than stuff like Alex uses. That’s why you’re going to get a weapon to start you off with.”
“A weapon?” I questioned. “I thought only Alex got those. What are you going to teach me how to summon a sword too?”
“No. That would be even harder on you because you don’t specialize in creating things or anything physical. What you’re going to get is what every witch gets when they start training. You’re going to get a wand.”
“A wand?”
“Yeah. It’ll teach you how to channel your magick.”
“Is Alex going to be getting anything to help him out with?”
“No, he doesn’t need to channel magick lost distance like you. That’s why you’re only getting a wand. The wand is only going to be for this anyway. If you look ahead of you, there is a door and next to the door is a chest. The wand is inside.”
I walked over to the old chest made of silver with opals to decorate it. I opened it and inside was a white wand with swirls engraved into it and a crystal at the end. It was laying on grey cloth. I picked it up, and I could feel my power going to the tip as soon as I touched it. The clear crystal at the end glowed white.
“Crystals are put at the end of wands as a way to channel your energy. That’s why it’s glowing. Now, through the door is a bunch of clay soldiers. They aren’t going to move right now. They’re just targets. You have to shoot them with a bolt of light. When they are all destroyed, you’ll be able to go to the next room. I’ll explain more when you get there.”
“Ok.”
I touched the door which caused it to open. There were about 10 clay soldiers inside. As soon as I stepped inside, the door shut behind me. I looked at my wand and tried to picture what it would look like it shoot light out of the tip, but nothing was happening. This caused me to sigh.
“Don’t picture the result. You have to picture the energy in your body going into the wand and out of the tip. You have to feel the energy gather in your hand and then go out of the tip. Now aim at one of the soldiers and do as I said.”
I nodded and started to picture it and feel it. I pictured a white glow in the center of my chest. It felt warm. The energy made it’s way to my hand, but once it got there, I had a hard time getting it to leave my body. I tried to picture it, but I couldn’t see it. I put my hands in my hair and screamed in frustration.
“Don’t get so upset over it. You can’t force it. You have to let it come out of your hand. You have to be calm.”
“How can I be calm? Alex has been able to summon a sword for I don’t know how long, and all I’ve been able to do is let out a blast of energy and cause myself to pass out. There is no way that I’ve ever going to be ready to take down the darkness. I’m not cut out for this at all!”
“Don’t talk like that. I didn’t think I was either when they had me start learning the harder spells. All my life, I’ve only been able to do little things. The stuff that came easy to me. When I was thrown into the world of magick, I could barely get anything. I could hear everyone around me telling me how great Alexander was becoming. Maybe that’s why I failed at the end. He was so much better than me at fighting and that’s what I was trying to learn. I thought that fighting with a sword would make it more even. I didn’t even think about using the staff of light. All I wanted to use was a sword, but you know what? You don’t have to make that mistake like I did. You actually have Alex with you, and you have me helping you out right now. I never had that. Hell, we never even had our true weapons and armor. We just had ones that our mentors made for us. That’s what’s at the end of all of these doors. I wasn’t suppose to tell you that, but I know that you need to know.”
“There’s a lot of things that I need to know.”
“Yeah, but the answers to them will come in time. Now, try again. Try and let it all out.”
I aimed at one of the clay soldiers again. I closed my eyes. I pictured the energy in my chest again just like I did before, and when it came to my hand, I started to think about all of the good things that have happened to me. The number one thing would be meeting Alex in the first place. Even before he was mine, he still meant the world to me. I started to think of the first time that All Time Low jammed and when we even thought of the name. I thought of the first time that I kissed Alex as myself and it meant something. I thought of when we made love, and when he said that he still wanted to be my boyfriend.
When I opened my eyes, the soldier that was in front of me before was now a pile of clay. I smiled at my accomplishment and aimed at the next soldier. A bolt of light came out of the end of the wand and destroyed it. I did this ‘til all of them were nothing but rubble.
“Seems like you got the hang of it. The next step is going to be easier. It’s just taking what you learned right now and changing it a little bit. Again, the soldiers will not attack you. You’re going to have to destroy them with a slash of light. You’re just going to do what you did now, but move the wand as you do so and channel it instead of just shooting it.”
“Sounds easy.”
I opened the next door and ran inside. The soldiers were all destroyed quickly. Slashing them with light was far too easy. I didn’t have any trouble, and I didn’t miss. I smiled and went up to the next door. I waited for my past self to tell me what was behind it, but it didn’t come, so I just opened the door. When I walked in, I didn’t see a single soldier.
Where were my new targets?
Why wasn’t my past self telling me anything?
All of a sudden, I felt a pain in my left arm. I shot a bolt of light in the direction of my attacker. It hit a soldier that had a bow in it’s hand. I looked around to see if there were anymore, but there wasn’t. Blood started to run down my arm. My right hand pulled the arrow out of my arm which caused more blood to spill out.
“This is the last thing that you’re going to learn,” my past life finally said.
“What? How to get shot by an arrow?”
“No, healing. It’s the one thing that Alex will never be able to learn. That’s why Alexander couldn’t save me all those years ago. Alex is only ever going to be able to learn to poison people, but he isn’t going to learn that today. You can heal yourself though. Aim your wand at your arm at channel all of that warm feeling inside. Channel all of that happiness to the tip of your wand. You don’t have to use your wand though. If you want, you can just put your hand on the wound if that makes it easier.”
“I’ll try that.”
I put my hand on my wound. It hurt like hell, but the pain started to go away. Well, at least I could numb it. I started to think about all of the things that I did before. This time I focused on it even more in detail. I thought of Alex. Alex. Alex. Slowly, I could feel my wound closing and the bleeding slowly stopping. Alex. Alex. Alex. I opened my eyes to find that there was only blood on my hand and arm now. My injury was gone just because I thought of the greatest thing to ever happen to me.
“I can’t believe that I just did that.”
“Well, believe it. Now, in the next room there are more soldiers, but these ones are going to attack you. It’s the last room. They are going to come at you with everything that they’ve got. Are you ready?”
“I have Alex. I know that he can do it, and I know that I can do it. So, bring it on!”
“A weapon?” I questioned. “I thought only Alex got those. What are you going to teach me how to summon a sword too?”
“No. That would be even harder on you because you don’t specialize in creating things or anything physical. What you’re going to get is what every witch gets when they start training. You’re going to get a wand.”
“A wand?”
“Yeah. It’ll teach you how to channel your magick.”
“Is Alex going to be getting anything to help him out with?”
“No, he doesn’t need to channel magick lost distance like you. That’s why you’re only getting a wand. The wand is only going to be for this anyway. If you look ahead of you, there is a door and next to the door is a chest. The wand is inside.”
I walked over to the old chest made of silver with opals to decorate it. I opened it and inside was a white wand with swirls engraved into it and a crystal at the end. It was laying on grey cloth. I picked it up, and I could feel my power going to the tip as soon as I touched it. The clear crystal at the end glowed white.
“Crystals are put at the end of wands as a way to channel your energy. That’s why it’s glowing. Now, through the door is a bunch of clay soldiers. They aren’t going to move right now. They’re just targets. You have to shoot them with a bolt of light. When they are all destroyed, you’ll be able to go to the next room. I’ll explain more when you get there.”
“Ok.”
I touched the door which caused it to open. There were about 10 clay soldiers inside. As soon as I stepped inside, the door shut behind me. I looked at my wand and tried to picture what it would look like it shoot light out of the tip, but nothing was happening. This caused me to sigh.
“Don’t picture the result. You have to picture the energy in your body going into the wand and out of the tip. You have to feel the energy gather in your hand and then go out of the tip. Now aim at one of the soldiers and do as I said.”
I nodded and started to picture it and feel it. I pictured a white glow in the center of my chest. It felt warm. The energy made it’s way to my hand, but once it got there, I had a hard time getting it to leave my body. I tried to picture it, but I couldn’t see it. I put my hands in my hair and screamed in frustration.
“Don’t get so upset over it. You can’t force it. You have to let it come out of your hand. You have to be calm.”
“How can I be calm? Alex has been able to summon a sword for I don’t know how long, and all I’ve been able to do is let out a blast of energy and cause myself to pass out. There is no way that I’ve ever going to be ready to take down the darkness. I’m not cut out for this at all!”
“Don’t talk like that. I didn’t think I was either when they had me start learning the harder spells. All my life, I’ve only been able to do little things. The stuff that came easy to me. When I was thrown into the world of magick, I could barely get anything. I could hear everyone around me telling me how great Alexander was becoming. Maybe that’s why I failed at the end. He was so much better than me at fighting and that’s what I was trying to learn. I thought that fighting with a sword would make it more even. I didn’t even think about using the staff of light. All I wanted to use was a sword, but you know what? You don’t have to make that mistake like I did. You actually have Alex with you, and you have me helping you out right now. I never had that. Hell, we never even had our true weapons and armor. We just had ones that our mentors made for us. That’s what’s at the end of all of these doors. I wasn’t suppose to tell you that, but I know that you need to know.”
“There’s a lot of things that I need to know.”
“Yeah, but the answers to them will come in time. Now, try again. Try and let it all out.”
I aimed at one of the clay soldiers again. I closed my eyes. I pictured the energy in my chest again just like I did before, and when it came to my hand, I started to think about all of the good things that have happened to me. The number one thing would be meeting Alex in the first place. Even before he was mine, he still meant the world to me. I started to think of the first time that All Time Low jammed and when we even thought of the name. I thought of the first time that I kissed Alex as myself and it meant something. I thought of when we made love, and when he said that he still wanted to be my boyfriend.
When I opened my eyes, the soldier that was in front of me before was now a pile of clay. I smiled at my accomplishment and aimed at the next soldier. A bolt of light came out of the end of the wand and destroyed it. I did this ‘til all of them were nothing but rubble.
“Seems like you got the hang of it. The next step is going to be easier. It’s just taking what you learned right now and changing it a little bit. Again, the soldiers will not attack you. You’re going to have to destroy them with a slash of light. You’re just going to do what you did now, but move the wand as you do so and channel it instead of just shooting it.”
“Sounds easy.”
I opened the next door and ran inside. The soldiers were all destroyed quickly. Slashing them with light was far too easy. I didn’t have any trouble, and I didn’t miss. I smiled and went up to the next door. I waited for my past self to tell me what was behind it, but it didn’t come, so I just opened the door. When I walked in, I didn’t see a single soldier.
Where were my new targets?
Why wasn’t my past self telling me anything?
All of a sudden, I felt a pain in my left arm. I shot a bolt of light in the direction of my attacker. It hit a soldier that had a bow in it’s hand. I looked around to see if there were anymore, but there wasn’t. Blood started to run down my arm. My right hand pulled the arrow out of my arm which caused more blood to spill out.
“This is the last thing that you’re going to learn,” my past life finally said.
“What? How to get shot by an arrow?”
“No, healing. It’s the one thing that Alex will never be able to learn. That’s why Alexander couldn’t save me all those years ago. Alex is only ever going to be able to learn to poison people, but he isn’t going to learn that today. You can heal yourself though. Aim your wand at your arm at channel all of that warm feeling inside. Channel all of that happiness to the tip of your wand. You don’t have to use your wand though. If you want, you can just put your hand on the wound if that makes it easier.”
“I’ll try that.”
I put my hand on my wound. It hurt like hell, but the pain started to go away. Well, at least I could numb it. I started to think about all of the things that I did before. This time I focused on it even more in detail. I thought of Alex. Alex. Alex. Slowly, I could feel my wound closing and the bleeding slowly stopping. Alex. Alex. Alex. I opened my eyes to find that there was only blood on my hand and arm now. My injury was gone just because I thought of the greatest thing to ever happen to me.
“I can’t believe that I just did that.”
“Well, believe it. Now, in the next room there are more soldiers, but these ones are going to attack you. It’s the last room. They are going to come at you with everything that they’ve got. Are you ready?”
“I have Alex. I know that he can do it, and I know that I can do it. So, bring it on!”
@JagkBaraSlut
I might. I'm busy right now with school which is why all of my stories are really late. I don't like the fact that I didn't finish the sequel, but I want to rewrite this. I'll put this with the other stories that I want to write for the summer.
5/10/14