Magic

Yama.

Yes, teacher?

You will not live to see the world change but you will be part of the change.

Eh… okay, teacher.

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It was odd that the only thing going through the white-haired man head’s would be that conversation as he faced down Lady Lightening. It was a conversation that came after a long night of fighting off an attack of the illness, when he was twelve. It was the only time that the Old Goat mentions his mortality. Old Goat was the only one that actually believed that Yama would live past adolescent-hood. Out of his siblings, the illness hit him the hardest.

For the majority of his baby-hood, he lived in the crib with incense burning over him as his parents prepared for the burial . He wasn’t even name after a week of birth. He was simply known as ‘The baby’. His own father never held him since in his heart, his youngest son was already dead. Only when Old Goat came and plucked him from the crib was he named and told everyone that he will outlive the tribe.

“You are dying, Desert Fox.” The sorceress taunted, bringing Yama from his musings. “I see the imps waiting at your feet, ready to drag your dirty soul down to Hell.” Her finger tips crackled and snapped with pure electricity.

“They aren’t taking it today. They’re here for the show.” He folded his hands together and bowed his head, chanting in whisper. The sand begins to whirl at his ankles.

“Yes, pray to your God.” She mocked as one of her hands formed a ball of electricity in the center of it. “Pray for forgiveness and your sins. “

“Did you know that the Earth is the strongest of the Elements?” The comment was as random as it could be. It was enough to cause the blue-haired woman to raise a blue pencil-thinned eyebrow, anyway.

“Lightening kills, sure. But it cannot strike twice in the same spot. But the Earth…” He smiled, showing off his unnaturally long canines. “It does what it wants. The shamans and mages of the earth do not control it like those of fire and water, even like you control your lighting, Lady. They bond with it, let the Earth become a part of them as them become a part of it. They both control what dies and what lives within their territories.” He smiled more, his face turning even more vulpine then before. He opened his eyes to reveal a solid amber. No irises, no centers, just twin ovals of golden amber.

The Lady gasped but quickly regain her face of superiority and indifferent. “Just give me the boy, not a lecture. “ She pulled back her arm and threw the ball of electricity.

Off to the side, Yama heard the faint calls of his young charge but he didn’t move out of the way of ball. Instead he disappeared in whirls of sand as it hit its mark.

“Where did he go?” The Lady asked out loud to herself as she looked around for the man.

Then a cluster of sand formed behind her, some wrapped around her neck and wrist. “Sadly, you chose to step within my territory. “ A husky voice, the sound of the sand whirling, whispered in her ear. Her pale face twisted in shock. “It will be my pleasure to take you out of my territory.”

The Lady of Lightening cried out in terror as the sand surrounded her body. Her screams echoed long after the sand engulfed her fully and as it settle once again on the ground.

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His heart pounded as he raced to where the woman of lighting and Yama were fighting. There were nothing left of either one. Where was Uncle? Where did he go? He asked himself as he tried to determine the man’s whereabouts from the tracks on the ground but there were none. The whirling sand must have wiped them out of existence.

“I’m sorry about the mess.” Then, almost out of nowhere, there he was. Giving money to a shocked vender and apologizing for the destruction of his stalls. His leather hat was firmly back on his head, hiding the pure white hair from view. His eyes back to their normal light grey color with black centers.

“Uncle!” Benini, overcome with relief, rushed to the older man’s side and wrapped his strong arms around the man’s waist and cried on his shoulder. “I thought you were gone for good!”

Yama smiled as he patted down the unruly sandy hair before kissing the top of it. “I won’t leave you, you should know that by now. “ He pulled the boy closer into a loving hug of reassurance.

“Now for that tobacco. “ He messed up the boy’s hair in an act of brotherly love before letting him fully and went about getting his most needed tobacco. He had ran out just the other night and couldn’t wait to buy some more.

“Unccccle!” The teenager whined as he fixed his hair back the way that he liked it. Then old Fafil’s words came back with a vengeance.

“Oi, Uncle.” He ran up and grabbed the brown cotton sleeve of the man’s shirt. “We need to get out of here. Lord Hector’s solders are coming here to kill you.” He pulled the man away, who cried out from having to leave his desired tobacco behind, and quickly made way for their shared apartment.

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The sounds of chicken clucking and children squealing were getting to him. Why isn’t that every time that he took a hover bus or train, he has to sit with the chickens and unruly children that didn’t know when to shut up!? Charles, a traveling musician, chewed on the end of a lickerish stick as he fought against permanently shutting up the birds and the little brats.

The overcrowded bus stopped at a sign at the outside of some desert city. Great, more brats. The dark haired man thought bitterly as he broke the stick in half with gritted teeth.

“Uncle, Stop acting like a child. I’ll buy you a whole bush of tobacco when we get off in the next city.” He looked to see a boy, not much older then seventeen, talking to someone whose face was hidden behind a brown scarf and large leather hat. He must be dying with that get-up in this Fucking heat. He thought.

He wasn’t wearing more then an open collar cotton vest with worn jeans and he was suffering!

“Mah. That’s too long, mouse.” The man threw himself at the boy’s back and wrapped his arms around his neck, whining like a little brat. “I’m dying and you don’t care.”

“That’s right, I don’t. That stuff is bad for you anyway.” The boy pushed the man, his uncle Charles thought, off and into a seat as he held on to the railing as the bus finally starts moving again.

The kid’s not bad looking. A bit meaty but that will lesson with age, the nose needed work. Like he was one to talk, his own was broken one too many times in bar fights and it hasn’t straighten back up to its formal shape. The uncle must be ugly as sin to keep his body covered or it must be some weird desert religion thing.

“Have some of this if the cravings are that bad.” The boy dug around in the overstuffed backpack and pulled out some kind of green stick and handed it to his uncle who took with a childish huff.

“I rather have some candy.” He complained as he pulled down the scarf to stick one end of the green stick in the corner of the mouth.

Charles was in pure awe, the man wasn’t ugly. He was perfect. High cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass with, angular face to give it a feline look and thin but still full mouth. And skin perfectly tanned from being under the sun’s glaze. The problem was the silver rings in the right corner of the mouth, the curve thick tattoos on the cheeks, the black diamond tattoo on the chin and a sliver ring in the left nostril. What is that thing in poking out of the man’s nose bridge?

Sorry, but Charles Lee do not do tattoos and piercings, not matter how good looking that the person is. It was too freaky and so un-needed. Sure he had a ruby hoop in both ear lobes but that was enough. This man took it to the next extreme.

Oh, well. Looks like a no for Uncle. He sighed as he turned around to look at the endless supply of sand that lies beside the zooming bus.

The next stop won’t be for another hundred miles. And already, he was dreaded it.

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The little brats finally went to sleep on their parents’ laps, just as the yellow afternoon sun was turning into the orange evening sun. Uncle had went through at least two of those green sticks and was fast asleep with his chin tucked against his chest. Scarf firmly in place over the bottom half of his face. Mouse, or Benini depending on the time when the older man talked to his nephew, was keeping watch as he would switch arms from time to time, holding onto the railing.

The boy was in deep thought and would sometime brush a hand over his uncle’s cheek. I wonder what that’s relationship is really about. The guitarist mused to himself as he fights back the need to sleep.

Suddenly the bus jerked to a stop, everyone and every thing was thrown into the aisle. The pale man groaned as he pushed his way to the top. He had the misfortune of being the bottom of the dog pile.

“Uncle! UNCLE!” He gave a puzzled sound and look to match as he watches the kid looked around for the older desert man.

“DESERT FOX!” They both whipped their head to the front and took to the same window to see a rather small group of what could have been seven. Four men and three women with all shaved heads and dressed in flowing black robes. “GIVE ME THE BOY AND THERE WILL BE NO NEED FOR LOSS OF LIFE!” From where Charles could see, no one opened their mouth.

Who was doing the talking?

“Uncle.” The boy muttered beside him and drove his attention to the pile of people that was slowly standing up.

Sand trickled from the pile and collected itself and moved like a river outside from a large crack in the window.

“What the fuck?” The musician muttered as others did the sign against evil.

“Uncle, no!” The boy was too late as he moved to stop the sand. Outside on the ground, the sand took the form of a man and soon the boy’s uncle came into focus.

Oh, blessed his Aunt Fanny! A magic-user! He smiled nervously, hearing the propaganda against magic-users.

“The boy is not yours to take, but mine to protect. “ The sand under the black boots crunched as the man walked steady toward the group. “And you made the mistake of entering my territory.”

His dark honey eyes widen as the man turned into a cluster of whirling sand.

“GIVE ME THE BOY” As a whole, the men and women raised their hands with the palm towards the walking sandman.

“No! UNCLE!” The boy rushed out of the seat and was trying to break a window in order to get out. Charles grabbed Benini by the arms and pulled him away. The boy wasn’t having it as he kicked and wiggled his way out of his gasp.

“At least use the fucking door!” He threw the brat to towards the front. The kid must have gotten the message since he was running towards the bus’s door, tripping over fallen people and items.

Charles gave a low whine as he checked the bullets in his rifle and wondered if bullets were enough to even slow down a magic-user. If not seven of them.

He kissed the flat of the coin that hanged around his neck on a leather strap and followed the kid out the door. And run into a hurling black ball of fire.

“OH. GERAN!” The black-haired man cried out as his arms flew up to block his face from the fire. After minutes of not turning smoldering ash, he pulled his arms down to see a wall of sand in between him, the kid and the bus behind him and the group of magic-users.

He let out of laughter of relief and looked for the magic-user responsible for him not burning. He was nowhere in sight.

“GIVE ME THE BOY!” The formless voice demanded again.

“The boy will stop Hector and you will not stop me from helping him.” Another formless voice spoke but not as dark and evil sounding as the other. It was the sound of sand twisting in the wind.

Black fire burst into being from the centers of the seven’s palms and gathered together to form one huge ball of flames. This was not looking so good for everyone in front of that ball! The protecting wall of sand grew more solid, turning a wall of rock as it took the hit of the ball of black fire. Now a form took sharp in the ground.


“What is that?” Charles asked no-one as the form slither like a snake. He jumped back with a scream as a head of a cobra made entirely of sand poked out from the ground. Its forked tongue flicked out to taste the air as the body stood tall, way above the rock wall.

The hood of the cobra fanned out as it roared in anger before the snake dive upon the group of seven, mouth open wide to shallow them up in one gulp.

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a/n: I tried my best in catching the grammar mistakes in this one but I don't think I got them all. If you want a chapter three then ask for it. Not Writing if no-one wants to read it.