“I’m not just a force, I am a growing organism. I must reproduce, stretch my reaches across the planet,” echoed a deep voice from a fountain in the depths of a dark forest.

“Hmmm,” mumbled a short, young teen-aged boy. “But destruction is the only way?

“The more I am used for destruction, the stronger I grow, the more I spread, and the more powerful you become. I’m sure you will not find it difficult when you realize how rewarding it is.”

Two tall, strong looking men wearing a coat of armor accompany the boy; they’re walking up to an ornate house on a hill, with polished brick walls, marble columns at the entrance, and a majestic garden in the back with decorated hedges and flower patches. The hill overlooks hundreds of small, worn down cottages that are scattered all throughout The Kingdom.

“Cravis,” sternly says a middle aged, finely dressed woman, standing by the entrance of the house, with another tall, armored man standing near her. She glances at the two armored men who brought Cravis up the hill and nods. 

“Mrs. Balton,” Say the men as they nod back and leave. “Cravis come inside.”

“Mom…” mumbles Cravis. He walks into the house and the guard standing outside shuts the door.

“So, another incident at school,” says Mrs. Balton. Cravis started looking down. “Flynn told me you hurt someone again.”

“Did I?” Cravis says concerningly and shrugs.

“Young man listen to me! This sorcery has to stop. Your father, you know this Cravis, you know what your father thinks about black magic. What if he found out!” Mrs. Balton yells, not too loud though, so the guards wouldn’t hear.

“Heh,” snickers Cravis. “Don’t worry mom, nobody saw me. It was so cool this time. It was all red and fiery.”

“Why are you doing this,” says Mrs. Balton, almost crying. “Why do you keep hurting the peasant kids.”

“Remember mom? That kid was hanging out around behind our garden a few nights ago. I’m protect…”

“You are doing nothing of the sort! Your father holds a high position in The Kingdom’s Representative Body. How would the peasants react if they knew that his own child is attacking their children with black magic! We have a lot of supporters now, please Cravis.” Cravis looks up towards his mother. “Cravis,” Mrs. Balton’s voice softens. “Flynn and I discussed this at when he came to tell me about the incident, I’m keeping you home from school from now on.”

Cravis’s eyes widens. “What! Mom, no! I have to… no!” he yells. 

“I’m telling your father that I feel unsafe having you at the school, and that I found you a private teacher, coming from Ablash Island. It’s not going to be a teacher though, it’s going to be Flynn. Cravis, do you understand me?”

“You’re letting Flynn in the house?”

“It should be fine, we discussed that too. Your father has never met Flynn before so he won’t know who he is.”

“Mom, I’m not staying here,” mumbles Cravis.

“You are until we come to a safer conclusion.”

The Representative Chamber is located deep within the “Sky-Stone Square,” the Kingdom’s largest second most important governmental building. The building, which lies atop the tallest hill in its vicinity, is a gargantuan stone rectangular box with towers lining the exterior; it would seem nothing could penetrate this menacing edifice. 

Mr. Balton, despite being short, has a body structure resembling the impenetrable rigidness of the Sky-Stone Square. His face has nothing but seriousness about it, as he and dozens of other representatives and important figures sit around the table in the Representative Chamber. 

“Another child was reportedly harmed by black magic earlier today at a school here in the Central Sector,” states Mr. Balton. “It is imperative that we not let this continue anymore. We have no idea what magic like this can do, as you know, the only knowledge we have is from legends where dark sorcerers toppled entire cities.  I am not willing to risk our blessed Kingdom whatsoever. It must be our top priority now to find out from where or whom the magic is coming from, and execution must be the price to pay for practicing such an act. In order to do this, we must double the number of soldiers deployed within this sector. ”

“Mr. Balton,” says another Representative. “I understand that this is a serious matter, but I don’t believe it would be effective to take any action now. As you said, we don’t know anything, and it would be very costly to double the soldiers.”

“I love The Kingdom,” firmly stats Mr. Balton “Above all, the most important thing to me is The Kingdom’s security. I will not stand for the slightest threat to it.”

Mr. Balton met Flynn, under his code name “Mr. Raldovo,” this morning.  He didn’t seem to mind that Cravis would be schooled at home, he said he thought it was a good idea, but he seemed to have a lot on his mind and briskly left for work at the Sky-Stone Square without saying bye to his wife or son.

Flynn isn’t a teacher, but he is an intelligent man, once a very important researcher for the Kingdom. According to the Kingdom’s records, however, he has been dead for years, and has been doing research in secret on “forbidden” things such as black magic and telepathy. That’s how he found Cravis, though neither Flynn nor Mrs. Balton explained the details to Cravis of how he was able to find out that Cravis had started being able to use magic. The only background information she has ever told Cravis that she and Flynn used to work together. 

“Ah, hello again, Cravis,” says Flynn in an almost irritatingly professional sounding voice, as he quickly glances around to make sure the guards have left the room.

“Hey,” says Cravis without any enthusiasm. 

“Your mother requests that I must actually focus on your education, we’re not going to be playing around here.”

“Hmm,” mumbles Cravis.

Flynn has brought dozens of books with him, and the first thing he does is have Cravis read a few pages from a book about The Kingdom’s history. This passage is about what The Kingdom was like and how it operated 400 years ago. Cravis reads it quickly silently, but he pretends to have taken a longer time by sitting and doing nothing for five extra minutes. Flynn tells him to read another section after he’s done. 

Cravis looks up at Flynn and rolls his eyes when he realizes what it is about. 

“The kingdom burned for days at the hands of black magic…” 

“Come on, Flynn,” says Cravis. 

“It’s Mr. Raldovo to you. Ahem, Cravis, I want to talk to you abou…”

“No,” Cravis interrupts. “I thought you’re supposed to only be here to teach me.”

“Yes, this is a lesson, just not about conventional things,” Flynn replies as he is stroking his beard, which is as thick as the hedges in the garden. “Black magic, as you know, Cravis, is not something well understood. Everybody knows about that legend told in that passage I had you read, but the story is incomplete. I don’t know if your mother had told you yet,” Flynn lowers his voice a bit,  “but I have been researching magic myself and…”

“You know I can just tell my father all about you,” Cravis interrupts again.

“You and I know that’s not a good idea, Cravis. Please stop interrupting me. As I was saying, I have actually found what I believe to be the physical essence of black magic, I found it in an old fountain in the forest.” Cravis tenses up a bit. “I won’t go into the scientific details now, but I realized that when it is used, such as in the burning of a city, it replicates and spreads, in a way.”

Cravis appears more interested in what Flynn is saying now, as he casually forms a red glowing ball in his hand and observes it. Flynn gazes down towards Cravis’s hand and flinches as if he felt threatened, but he continues speaking.

“However, I believe that after too much use, the magic will become so concentrated in the user’s body that it will kill them. That applies to you Cravis.”

“Yeah, right,” says Cravis, as he crushes the ball in his hand and it disintegrates with a sizzle.”

“But Cravis,” Flynn leans in and starts to whisper. “I found a solution to that. Cravis, with my help, you could become more powerful than you could ever dream of. We can take control of The Kingdom together.”

Cravis’s eyes widen and his jaw gapes open. “What! Is this why you're here? Does my mom know this?”

“Hah, well not currently, but…”

“So you lied to my mother and now want to use me for power?”

“I possess knowledge, Cravis! You were lucky enough to have been chosen by the fountain and lucky enough to have me as a family friend. I’m not using you I…”

“Some family friend you are. Forget it, Flynn,” Cravis starts forming another glowing red ball in his hands. 

“Don’t be foolish, Cravis.”

“So destruction causes me to grow more powerful, huh?” Cravis fires the ball at Flynn, it leaves a burning yellow glow in the air as it strikes Flynn in his wrinkled forehead and pushes him against a bookshelf. The bookshelf catches fire. 

The guards yell “What’s happening?” and bust into the room. Cravis has already burst the window and is running past the gardens, down the hill,  towards the forest.”

“Fountain! What do I do? Everyone is going to know now?”

“That was a foolish move,” grumbles the fountain’s voice. “No matter, the outcome will still be the same. You already are capable of causing huge amounts of damage. I believe at this point, you have enough magic in your body that you’ll be able to burn through armor, and you may even be able to regenerate your own injuries. If people know now, I recommend for our sake that you start to act fast.”

Cravis runs out of the forest and heads back towards his home. When he arrives, there are dozens of armored guards and soldiers standing around. Cravis’s father is also there among them, talking angrily with some of the guards. He is about to hide behind one of the hedges, but decides not to and walks towards the house. 

A guard sees him first and yells, “He’s here!” He looks at Cravis, yelling “Hey kid! I mean, uhh, Mr. Balton! Get over here. Your father wants to talk to you!”

Cravis walks with the guard towards the front of the house, he looks in the window where he broke out of and notices that the bookshelf that had caught on fire was in the middle of the floor covered with a curtain. Neither his mother nor Flynn were anywhere to be seen. 

“Son, I’m upset. I’m very upset,” says Mr. Balton, eyebrows furrow. 

“What happened to F… Mr. Raldovo, and where’s Mom?” Cravis grunts.

“Your mother has been arrested for treason and as for Mr. Raldovo, as you call him, you killed him. You killed him Cravis. You used black magic to kill him. BLACK MAGIC, CRAVIS!” furiously yells Mr. Balton. “Son, I’m sorry but you’re gonna have to come with me for interrogation.”

“You’re arresting me? Your son?”

“Cravis, I am not above the law and neither are you!” He glances back at two soldier behind him. “Grab him,” he orders.

The soldiers both reach towards Cravis, and in that instant, a red bolt of uncontained power is fired out of Cravis’s hands and into the chests of the soldiers, launching them into the brick outside wall of the house. A black mark is burned into the spot of impact.

“Fire!” yells Mr. Balton, and the soldiers pull out their crossbows and start shooting at Cravis. He runs into the house, as arrows fly past dangerously close to his small body.

“Dad stop! Please!” cries Cravis. He runs through the painted hallways into his bedroom and he turns around, facing the entrance, building up red fireballs in both hands. Soldiers try rushing in, and he unleashes. The entire wall crumbles as the cries of the soldiers echo through the smoke and dust filled air. The soldiers that are still standing continue to fire as Cravis fends them off. Finally, a soldier manages to hit Cravis; an arrow strikes his left leg and he falls to his knees.

“Ahhhh!” Cravis screams in pain and grabs his leg, but manages to fire off a bolt straight through the armor and through the chest of the soldier. Everything quiets down for several seconds, except for the crackling sound of fire. Cravis looks around, putting his hands over his head, breathing heavily in panic, in terrible shock of what just happened. He is about to stand up, when suddenly, an arrow pierces through both of his hands nailing them to the wall.

“GAAHHHHH!” screams Cravis, as he sees his father standing in the smoke with a crossbow in hand.

“Cravis, why did this have to happen. Why would you do this to me!” yells Mr. Balton

“Help… dad please… ahhhh! Don’t… ahhhhh!” Cravis cries out. 

“I’m sorry, son,” says Mr. Balton quietly as he starts to tear up. “My purpose is to protect The Kingdom.” He aims the crossbow towards Cravis.

“Your purpose is… ahhhh! Not to protect me? Dad please!” Cravis glances towards his leg where he was shot. The wound is starting to disappear. He looks back up towards his father.

“Cravis my boy,” whispered Mr. Balton, looking deep into Cravis’s eyes. He then screams, “For The Kingdom!” He fires the crossbow.

In mid-air, Cravis catches the arrow in his right hand, which appears to be completely unscathed. His entire body is now glowing red, and a shockwave erupts from out of his body, exploding the entire house. Flames engulf the gardens behind Cravis as he stands up, and stares at his hands.

“Fountain…” he mumbles. “Why…”

He ascends up the highest hill, the black magic carrying him through the air, towards the Sky-Stone palace. His entire body is glowing red-hot. As he approaches the building, soldiers on the towers start firing at him, but to no avail, as the arrows disintegrate as they approach Cravis’s body. 

“Thanks you mom for hiding me instead of trying to help me. Thanks Flynn for trying to use me for power. Dad, Thank you, I really appreciate you trying to kill me. It looks like I have no choice anymore, Fountain! You get what you want!” 

A continuous beam roars through the atmosphere from out of Cravis’s entire body into the heart of the Sky-Stone Square. It continues for an entire minute, as peasants on the ground scream, running for cover as the inferno advances down the hills, consuming everything in it’s path. The beam dissipates, the crimson glow fades from Cravis’s skin and he plummets to the ground like a brick. 

The magic itself may be red, but everything in its path ends up black.