Chapter 13

Phae awoke to find herself suspended above the centre of the Lake, hovering precariously above the cold and murky waters. In the distance her captor, the yet unnamed mage, watched her closely from the bank. He grinned wickedly as he saw she had come to her senses.

His voice thundered within her head. "Come now child, our first task is now at hand. Do this for me now and your troubles will soon be over."

Phae started to tremble. She couldn't feel any of her limbs. "What have you done to me?! Why am I floating here? Put me back on the shore you evil"

All of a sudden, she could feel the mage's presence inside her head.

Phae screamed.

"Hush, hush. That's no way to talk to your saviour and friend, now is it? I'm afraid I had to take control of your body briefly to bring you to your current position, as only you have the power necessary for what I need you to do. Be thankful that I could only use you for a few brief moments, otherwise I might have been tempted to control you completely. I have great experience in these matters you know." Flashes of the dark mage's memories flooded into Phae's head. Images

from a time long before she was born filled her thoughts, and a great leader under the mage's control. The man had a name: Osmar.

"You are a wicked, wicked man!" Phae shrieked. She grew hysterical. "How could you do that to someone?!"

Phae felt a flood of warm emotion fill her body. "Thank you for your kind words child I do try my very best. But I fear we have talked long enough. Now to the task at hand..."

Phae flinched. Her whole body went rigid. She could feel the sinister thoughts of the dark mage filling her mind. She knew that from this moment on her actions were no longer her own.

"Try not to resist it will only make the pain worse."

Phae whimpered softly as she felt the dark mage's thoughts will her arms to stretch out in front of her with her palms face down towards the depths of the Lake below. A well of energy started to build within her.

"Good good. Keep it up girl."

Phae remained silent. She knew that to resist now would be to incur the mage's wrath. She knew too little of the powers within her to attempt to fight back. Deep in the recesses of her mind, she clung to the image of the family portrait that still resided in her pocket. Leaving home had been a very, very bad idea.

Her despairing thoughts sent a ripple through the magical plain.

"Mother! Father!"

A shock of pain from the mage quickly silenced her. She watched with mute horror as the material of the world itself seemed to bend and alter around her hands.

"Nearly there"

The waters of the Lake started to stir. Some giant orb below her started to move in the water. Was it really rising to the surface?

Phae risked a glance down at her feet, and sure enough, amidst the grey of her perpetual half-sleep a giant sphere of dazzling colour slowly rose from beneath the Lake's surface. The sight sent shivers down her spine.

"See girl, that there is a source one of the great funnels through which magic flows into the realm."

"What what are you going to do to it?"

"You'll see."

The dark mage cackled as with a mighty splash of displaced water the source rose into the air before her. All at once, dozens of coloured ribbons of magic started to play between her fingers.

"Yes, yes that's it. Only a little bit longer now child we're almost done."

Phae could feel her hands contorting into strange and complex shapes. She felt herself manipulating the magical bands and bending the fabric of the world around the orb. The power of the source washed over her: it warmed her; it caressed her. For the faintest of moments, she felt as if she just might have found the release she was looking for. For one brief moment, everything made sense.

And then it was gone.

In the blink of an eye the source waned and became as the trees: dead and lifeless. As the colour faded and the magic ceased to flow the source withered and shrank, until it was but the size of one of her clenched fists. The lifeless orb dropped into the Lake with a splash.

Strangely, she felt an awful lot better.

"That's it girl our work here is done. Feels good, doesn't it? You'd better hurry back to the shore now. I'm not sure how much longer you will be able to support yourself there."

Phae looked towards the bank and saw the dark mage beckoning her towards him. Instinctively she allowed herself to be drawn towards his outstretched hand.

As his mind finally left her own his words had a strange effect upon her senses. "Hurry now girl. We can't tarry here too long. We have an awful long way to travel." He reached out to grab her and pull her onto the shore. As soon as he touched her, she knew once more that she was trapped. His iron grip dug into her frail arms.

"Where are we going? I've done all you've asked of me, haven't I? Can't I go now?"

The dark mage smiled wickedly. "Oh, I can't let you go just yet girl. You have far too much to offer. We still have two more sources to close and our next stop is far, far away in the south. You will cooperate with me, now won't you?"

Phae nodded nervously. To argue now would be to bring about more pain.

"Good, I'm glad you agree." The dark mage started leading her back towards the forest. "Come my girl, we have a lot to do and little time to do it in. My master can't be kept waiting any longer." He glanced at her with an assessing eye. "You seem tired. Perhaps it's time you had a little rest."

She was about to protest but she found that while she was in the mage's grasp, she was completely helpless. She was fully and completely in the dark mage's control.

In the blink of an eye, Phae's world went blank.