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Chapter 14

     I tumbled down through the clouds, the rain beating painfully against me as the lighting bolts flashed all around me. Luckily none hit me. He doesn’t know I fell, I thought to myself. The burning forest was coming rapidly closer, looming out of the darkness like someone’s vision of hell. I was reminded of the dream I had the night I met Diranth, falling from a sky of black clouds into fire below... Desperately I tried to break my fall, but the pain from the rain made it hard to think. I flailed about helplessly in a vain attempt to hold onto the air. It was no use; I struck the trees with the force of a falling rock. Then blackness came.
    
     I drifted in and out of sleep. Time passed by me and around me. I knew I was high above the ground. The rain thundered on, still beating against me, but it seemed far away, as if it were happening to someone else. I could see a tangle of brunches around me, twisted charred branches. More darkness came, then light; daylight. The rain had stopped. I moved my head to look at the sky but my muscles screamed with agony. More blackness came over me.
    
     I awoke again to find myself lying on the ground. A figure loomed over me. When my vision cleared I recognized Diranth, his face showed no emotion. I wondered what happened to the tree I thought I was in.
     “You have been hurt.” Diranth told me without feeling. Suddenly I was aware of the pain throbbing through my body. Slowly I looked down at myself. My skin was an odd shade of black-purple. I started to laugh at the sight, but was stopped but the intense pain.
     “Hold still, I am going to heal you.”
     “I can heal myself!” I gasped. I had no intention of allowing him to use his evil magic upon me. Drawing a shaky breath, I began the mantra to my spell of healing; a pure healthy, non-evil spell, unlike what Diranth was likely to use on me.
     Diranth watched me a moment as I struggled to sort my magic out. Then he said to me, “Andrea you are too weak right now. Let me-”
     “NO!” I shrieked causing myself more pain, “I’ll do it myself.”
     Diranth wasn’t impressed by my childish determination. He grabbed both my hands in his, demonstrating to me that my wrist was in fact broken. I swallowed a scream as I tried to free myself from his grasp.
     “You cannot heal yourself – at least not alone. We will do it together. Ready?” I fancied I saw concern in his eyes for me, and I was in no position to argue. I barley had time to brace myself before my brother’s tainted magic came flowing into my body. I felt it flowing through my arms, painfully forcing bones back into position and fusing them back together. As Diranth’s magic was moving painfully through the other parts of my body I remembered my own spell. With great difficulty I ignored the evil magic within me and focused on my spell. I started at the skin, slowly healing the burns and bruises and bringing the cuts together. My skin once again returned to its usual colour.
     Meanwhile my brother’s magic raged on, stitching muscles back into place. I fought once more against his grasp, hoping to end his spell, but he held fast and continued. I sent my magic to where his was inside me. The magics clashed, and after a brief battle Diranth stopped, the spell complete. When his magic left my body a bitter evilness remained and would stay with me for the rest of my life.
     Diranth still did not release his grip on me. He looked down on me intently and said, “Now you know the kind of strength that can be achieved if you learn how to use magic the correct way. I will teach it to you my sister. Then you too can be powerful.”
    He looked at me as if awaiting my thanks and gratitude. All I gave him was a cold stare.
     “Come on,” he said at last, pulling me to my feet, “We have a lot of ground to cover still.”
     As I stood up I saw the devastation my brother’s storm had caused on what had once been a forest. All around me was scorched ground and tall, leafless trees. Nothing moved, not even the wind. Not a single creature stirred. The air was heavy from the evil way it had been abused.
     If there is one way to truly depress an earth mage, it would be to show them a scene like this. I reached out with my magic and my heart, hoping to undo some of the damage. The only thing I could do was send my last remaining bit of magic into the dead soil in the hopes that something might be able to grow again.
     I sank to my knees, drained of sprit and of magic, with no place to find more of either. How could I hope to stop someone who has the strength to do this to a forest? I thought bleakly. I looked down at my arms. My left wrist had been broken and now that it was healed, it didn’t look straight. Despite all Diranth’s power, he still couldn’t set a bone straight.
     “Get up Andrea. We must go,” he said, then seeing where my attention lay he added, “You are perfectly fine. Now get up.”
     I looked up at him standing beside me. Diranth’s magic must be gone I thought, he never stood on the ground if he didn’t have to. ‘Where did all his magic go?’ I wondered. With evil magic, the more you use the magic the more strength you could get out of it, so why would he run out? The wind wasn’t blowing and Diranth had no source of new magic.
     “It’s all dead,” I said to myself with a new understanding. Even magic could be destroyed.
     “Yes, it is.” Diranth replied looking at the death all around us. He had no way of knowing that I was referring to the death we couldn’t see.
     “Diranth, I’m not coming with you.” I said a bit louder, looking him straight in the eye. “I refuse to take part in our mother’s war.” He was shocked by my words.
     “What do you mean? How could-” Then he recovered his anger and stood closer.
     “You will come! You cannot beat me! I will bring you to our mother.” With that he pulled me to my feet once more. I just smiled and gave him a shove. He stumbled backwards and, without his magic to support him, he fell to the ground.
     “Where’s all your wonderful strength now brother? You can’t make me go with you.”
     “I saved your life! I protected you! I healed you! And this is how you repay me?” He yelled as he pulled himself to his feet.
     “Do you honestly think that I should be thankful? I didn’t ask for you to watch over me like a child. I told you not to heal me! You didn’t do those things out of kindness towards me and you know it!”
     “I offered you strength, power!”
     “You offer me evilness! Look what it’s gotten you! Nothing! You destroyed it with your own greed. You can barely stand on your own two feet. That’s a level I never intend to sink to.”
     “You dare call me greedy? You who drink up magic as fast as you can use it, then throw it away as soon as it’s of no further use?”
     “At least I don’t abuse it.”
     “I take no more magic then I need.”
     “And that small amount you use until you kill it! I return it to its source so it can become strong once more and allow it to serve its purpose!”
     “You speak of magic as if it were alive.”
     “In a way it is. It can die”
     “There will always be more magic.”
     “No Diranth, don’t you see? You kill it and it will be gone forever, and one day there will be none left and the world will die without it.”
     “That will never happen. I can see how you might feel this, but I assure you, that is not the case. There will always be magic. Once you try it you will understand.”
     “Diranth, my brother,” I said with pity, “don’t you see? I could never become evil. I will not cause the death of magic. It’s not too late for you to change your ways, you can learn to use magic the good way. Do not go back to mother’s evil influence. Come with me to Sinopha.” I was almost begging him, hoping he might change and come. But I knew he wouldn’t he couldn’t come.
     “Andrea I can’t let you leave. Please don’t do this! I don’t want to hurt you again.” In his own way my brother really did care about me. I could see this was tearing at him.
     “We each must make our own choices Diranth. I have made mine. There’s still time to change your mind. Don’t be mother’s pawn.”
     We stared at each other in silence. He stood there unwilling to change and not wanting to hurt me.
     “I see. Well, let’s at least part well, we are family after all.” I gave him a half smile, but backed away when he came closer.
     “I will find you again sister.”
     “And I’ll be ready for you.” At that I turned and dashed off through the dead woods, tears threatening to blind me. When I glanced back Diranth had begun to follow me at the pace of one not accustomed to walking. As long as the wind stayed still I could stay ahead of him.