27 Chapter 27 (1/2)

During the trip back to Grathum he was confused, he had left abruptly, normally he would have taken the time to say goodbye to the group, he hadn't even figured out the necromancers name, where she came from or any information about her at all for that matter. It was unlike him very much so, he wondered just how much this mind magic influenced his thoughts.

It was truly bothering him, the choices he made perhaps not being his own. The more he thought about it the more frustrated he became, Crimson pressed her snout against him trying to reassure him with a rumbling purr. He patted her flank, sighing. He realised there was nothing to be done about it now but that did not make it easier to accept or process the feeling of being controlled.

He spent most of the three day trip lost in his own thoughts, Crimsons presence was enough to deter anything that thought attacking them would be a good idea. Faster than he would have thought possible he stood in front of Vyria's compound again, with a deep breath he knocked on the gate, he waited, hands clenched for her to open the door. When she finally did her appearence once more took his breath away. It took him a few moments to get his bearings back.

”I solved the problem the villagers of Snowhome where having, things should have calmed down now.” He told her.

She smiled at him, ”Yes Reginald told me about the necromancer, and how you helped talk her down. After valiantly fighting off hordes of undead, quite an heroic tale the way he told it.”

Three coughed and felt the heat rise to his cheeks, ”Yes well, only doing what I can, same as anyone would.”

She stepped closer, a gentle smile on her face. ”I think you are of a rare breed Three, not many would have selfessly done what you did, I heard from Reginald that you suspect mind-magic to be the cause of that.”

Three blanched, Reg had already told her about it. ”Take a breath Three, the choices you made, no matter if they were influenced by others, were the right ones as far as I and the others you have helped are concerned. Mind magic, no matter how powerfull, will only strengthen certain aspects of yourself. So if you are worried that you are not a decent person, and only the mind magic makes you just, you can rest at ease.”

Some of the pressure left Three's shoulders. He locked gazes with Vyria, his heart pounding at their proximity, the rush of blood pounding through his ears as he tried to keep focus. ”It is dangerous none the less, some secrets are not meant to be shared.”

She nodded, her raven colored hair shaking with the movement, her crystal blue eyes met his once more. ”Then allow me to take a look.”

She lead him to one of her rooms, telling him to take a seat in a large leather recliner. She pulled a stool over and sat next to him, she put her hand on his hand, gently squeezing. ”This won't hurt, but it will feel... odd.”

He nodded, rolling his shoulders as he settled back into the leather. Oddly conscious of the physical connection between their hands. He tried to calm his heart, to no avail. She gently put her hand on his forehead, causing his heartbeat to speed up even more. He felt a chill as the temperature dropped slightly, a white haze materializing from her fingers.

She pulled her hands back and frowned. Three saw the expression and felt his heart clench, ”Whats wrong?”

”I can't get my magic to manifest properly, it keeps getting... torn apart.” She stared at her hands in confusion.

”Because of the mind magic?”

”No it's not the mind magic, it should not be anywhere near powerfull enough to do this, I can't get my magical sequences to line up properly. It's comparable to trying to catch water with a net, I simply can not hold on to them, they disperse before I can get them to do what I want them to.” She started tapping her chin with a finger.

”I think this has something to do with that core you told me about, from what I heard from you and Sumi, whom I have had several conversations with over the past week orso, you are the one who physcially changed the least, Correct?”

Three nodded, ”I grew a bit, and my muscles are... odd. But other than my skin becoming pale and my eyes turning black nothing much has changed.”