The Magician

The Magician is one of the parts of The Heirs of Zyainor Volume One.

## Synopsis

Zurae, one of Gardon Bloodclaw's daughters shows off her skills to her dad, by crushing a rebellion by herself.

## Story

July, 10 Z. R.

They were surrounded. There was no escape. The bandits had a few good months, but it was bound to end eventually. Zyainor had no tolerance for them. For their kind, there were only two ways to go in Zyainor: Being conscripted into the "irregulars" or be hunted until death. Serving Zyainor, however, would have meant to betray the legacy of their forefathers. These lands belonged to them, not to that Imperial bastard who claimed it in the name of the ancient and fallen nation of Zyainor. They had found weapons and armor in the old garrisons of Pyrru and armed themselves. They would give those Zyaise bastards a hell of a fight before their death. They had no regrets. For years they had suffered the presence of those upstarts who had taken their lands for themselves, now they had finally had enough and had started a revolt. They had lived as bandits, attacking the Zyaise nobles and using the gold to take care of their families. Now, their time had come. Apparently, the self-proclaimed ruler of Zyainor himself was on his way. They had the small hope that they would be able to kill the bastard, or at the very least wound him, so that their revolt would have at least some merit. Dawn was drawing near. And in the dawn, they came. The girl watched with big eyes as the soldiers around her were putting on their armor and weapons. In the entire camp, people were running around, some were shouting orders and everything went so smoothly and organized, it was fascinating. She was but a child accompanying them. Her father had told her that they'd go for a trip and that it'd be a surprise. This was a surprise for sure! Zurae grinned. Her father had promised her that they'd spend the whole day together when this was over. He was always so busy, she rarely saw him. At least mother always had time for her, but Zurae wanted to spend time with both - sadly it seemed as if they'd never be able to do something together, the entire family, since either mother or father or even both were busy everytime. A heavy hand was laid on her shoulder from behind. She quickly turned around, smiling at the man. She was not afraid of him or his terrifying armor at all. Why should she be? It was her father after all. "Are you ready, Zurae?" Gardon asked her with a smile. She nodded hastily and followed him.

A few minutes later, they were standing at the front of an army wearing the banners of Zyainor. The camp of the bandits was completely surrounded. Even with their stolen weapons, they would not withstand the power of this army. The Zyaise beat the bandits not only in numbers but in weapons and tactics as well. However, the army was not here to kill the bandits - a far less numerous force could have done so. They were here to protect their Ca'laer and his daughter. The bandits would be taken care of, yes, but they were far from being dangerous enough to require such a force. Gardon turned to his daughter and put his hands on her shoulders. His face was serious. "Okay, Zurae, this is your great moment. It is okay if you do not succeed, nothing will happen. Are you ready for this test?" he asked her. "Yes, dad. I am ready!" she said with no hesitation, looking directly into his eyes. He smiled, gave her a pat on the shoulder and took a step backwards. Zurae took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She stretched her right hand towards the enemy and began concentrating. The bandits had been completely surrounded, the army was massive. It was beyond them why the Zyaise bastards had sent so many to deal with them, they were severly outnumbered. Yet, their besiegers didn't make an attempt to attack them. They seemed to be waiting for something instead. Did they want to starve them to death, the cowards? The bandits would rather charge out and die on the open field than starve in this camp! But they still had resources, they would easily survive a week or two. Then, suddenly, a girl appeared right in the center of the camp. Out of nowhere! She must have been brought there using magic. A few of the bandits quickly surrounded her, weapons drawn. She just stood there and looked at them with her big eyes. "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" the leader of the bandits demanded to know. "Calm down, she is just a child. Probably can't use her abilities properly yet." someone said. "Shut up! The Zyaise must have sent her!" a third person shouted. The girl closed her eyes and raised her hands. It took mere seconds until the chaos unfolded, the leader of the bandits tried to charge at her, but too late. Within seconds, the entire camp was on fire. No, it wasn't just on fire, an inferno was ravaging through it, setting everything and everyone inside ablaze. Smoke and screams filled the air, only the girl was left untouched by the fire and any attempts to put it out failed - horribly. Anyone who tried to put water on it was set on fire afterwards. Anyone who tried to put out the fire on his own skin or clothes by jumping into water would scream horrified as the water would turn into acid upon contact. Hours passed. The entire camp was burned to the very ground, everyone inside was dead, the burned corpses lying on the ground. No one moved. Only the girl was still standing there, her eyes closed, her arms raised. Then, when someone put his hand on her shoulder, she opened her eyes and relaxed. She looked at the destruction around her before she looked at the man whose hand was still on her shoulder. "Have I done well, dad?" Zurae asked. Gardon smiled. "Yes. Yes you have, my daughter."