Krayta smiled. His will was strong. She liked that. She liked it very much. She did not care for a slave's magical or physical strength. It was Will that she wanted. Now that she had tested him to his fullest potential, she was satisfied. In the cold room, she clapped. The illusion disapeared. Loclov had his belongings restored, and would open his eyes in a blank room.

 

The place was not even really a room. It was just a void, a white space. Loclov would be healed of fatigue and any bruises. He would be alone in the room, except for Krayta, the real Krayta, who would be standing infront of him.

 

"Your weapons have been restored, but keep them sheathed," she said. Her voice was loud and powerful, but it was not threatening.

 

"You have passed all of my tests, Loclov of the burning blood and iron will. I congratulate you, and hope you will hear what it is I am about to propose to you."

 

Krayta stepped closer to him. Suddenly the white room disappeared and they were in her study. Along the walls were tall bookshelves filled with ancient lore, scrolls of magic, paintings of powerful sorcerrers and sorcerresses.

 

"For hundreds of years," she began, eyeing him sidelong, "I have been searching. If you were to go into town, you would hear them speak of Krayta, the most dangerous slave tamer that has ever lived. But I am not a slave tamer at all, contrary to popular belief. In the last two hundred years, I have been searching not for a slave, but an apprentice."

 

She turned to Loclov now, face-to-face.

 

"You can have anything you want, Pyro. Anything. All I ask in return is that you apprentice yourself to me. Think a moment! Think of the power, the glory that would come to you. You could return to your people as a lord of ultimate power! And I, I will have passed on my teachings. Besides, Loclov," she walked up to him and touched his cheek. "I may surpass you in years, but you are not the only virginal being of strength in this castle. Your children will not be born in chains. Share my bed," she continued, "and your children will lead the lives of the proudest warriors that this earth has ever seen!"

 

Krayta stopped talking now. She smiled, and opened a door. On the other side there was a plain room, with a normal bed, nothing out of the ordinary.

 

"Here, Loclov. Rest. Think about what I have said."

 

Letting Loclov choose between the study or the bedroom, Krayta left the room through another door, one that disappeared as soon as she was gone.

Krayta had been being truthful, for once. Every few hours or so, food would appear for Loclov in the study, hot and fresh, and always delicious. Whenever he finished reading something, it was replaced with something new so that he would not run out. However, as the day wore on, and then the following day and the coming week wore on, the reading would become increasingly difficult. In truth, Krayta had been surprised that the pyro could read, but was glad that she didn't have to start from scratch.

 

Loclov probably did not feel the passage of time, but it was several days when Krayta reappeared in the study. She walked over to the desk and sat on it, picking up and biting down on an apple that appeared.

 

"Well, Loclov? Enjoying yourself so far?" she spoked calmly, nonchallantly, as if he were a common house guest.

"Well, Loclov, I am quite glad you asked."

 

She took the tome from him and quickly checked the cover, scanning the runes for the title of the piece.

 

"Ah, it is no wonder you do not understand. This is a book of Earth Magic. You see," Krayta stood up. One of the bookshelves solidified into a chalk board, on which Krayta begin scribling.

 

"Magic is a very large title. There are many kinds of magic. As barbarian as you are, you have probably only dealth with Shamanistic Magics, or the invocation of spirits and such. Earth magic is much different, for instead of invoking the spirits of  living things, Earth magic invokes essence. It is a little complicated to explain, so let me see if can compare them for you."

 

Krayta pointed at the desk. There, she created a stone and a ball of water, which floated right above the surface of the desk.

 

"That stone is a stone, and will always be a stone. You can break it, grind it, burn it, but it will always have been a stone. That is the basis of Earth Magic. That water, while it is water, can be forced into any shape you choose. When the Shamanistic magicians practice their art, they compress and force the spirits into shapes they choose to command them."

 

Grianne returned to the book and pointed at the symbols.

 

"Earth magic, when written, uses specific symbols and pictograms to explain spells. That is because the basis of all Earth Magics are concrete and do not change. The symbols are a universal communicator."

Krayta made the water and the rock disappear and placed her hands on her hips. She looked sternly at Loclov, surprised at his fearful reaction.

 

"Oh come on Loclov. Such a big warrior, and you are frightened of parlor tricks!"

 

She walked over to him and lifted her hand, making sparks dance on her fingertips.

 

"The magic can't hurt you. It is part of you. Magic is a part of everything that lives and breathes. Magic is synonimous with life. I can do tricks and perform spells because I am master of my life. All of that crap," she pointed to the books, "is nonsense. People only draw symbols and speak spellwords because they cannot control their lives or their Will."

 

She tapped the side of his head.

 

"You have an enormous Will. With it, you can do unimagineable things. And none of it can harm you, unless you want it to harm you. Think of all the amazing things you could do with my powers. Remember the promises I made you, of power and glory."

 

She opened her hands, face up. She created flowers in one, then fire, and a mini-tornado. She created images, small dancing people, so many things that one could not even tell what they were.

 

"My magic is the simplest kind, yet the most powerful. All I ask is that you allow me the chance to teach you. Become my apprentice, and let me show you a world the likes of which you have never seen."

 

Krayta looked disappointed. She let the sparks go away and she walked over to the desk. She sat against it, leaning, and crossed her arms, looking darkly at the floor, ignoring Loclov for a good while. Finally she spoke.

 

"What is your quest? It cannot be that difficult. Name it and I will help you accomplish your task. But in doing so, you will agree to be my apprentice and partner here in my home."

 

If only he knew what kind of power he might have, she thought. His Will was close to her own. He would be a perfect partner. But he still needed some emotional breaking and molding.

Krayta did not hide her disapointment. She sucked on her lower teeth for a moment, thinking of another angle to approach this from. She wanted Loclov's apprenticeship very much.

 

"No, I cannot allow that," she said finally, firmly. There was no changing the fact the Loclov would not leave like that. "No. I am prepared to offer you anything but that." She said, looking him in the eye.

 

"Regardless of what you say, you do want the glory. I can tell, from the look in your eyes. You want the power, the honor that comes with it. Oh yes, complete your quest and you may be the leader of your tride. But learn from me, and you can become the leader of your race. Of many races..."

 

She paused.

 

"You could even destroy all the creatures like the ones that captured you, the vile Vampires. Their hell-spawned relatives, too. And even many of the elves you despise so much."

Krayta laughed, and it came out like a bark. Her, and Elf? She hadn't been called that in a long time.

 

"I am no more an Elf than I am a Pyro. Any ties to a racial identity have long since evaorated. That can happen sometimes, although you will always be a Pyro, because you are so strongly bound to that thought. No, I am not an Elf."

 

Krayta looked up at Loclov from where she was leaning against the desk.

 

"Will nothing persuade you to stay here and train with me? I can also train your body, not only your mind. You've seen for yourself how powerful I can be. And trust me, if you were to see the large assortment of weapons in my armory, even a warrior like you would be surprised."