Chapter 3: A new life A new life
Bjorn awoke to people talking quietly around him. He made sure to keep his breathing consistent to not alert anyone he was awake.
"Are you sure it's ok you got the mark without talking to your brother about it"? said a worried feminine voice he didn't recognize.
"There's no way that Bjorn would have trusted a bunch of strangers, or anyone really, to keep Kimbal and me safe. Its not that he thinks he is all powerful or something" Lyra said when she noticed the dragon priestess looking more worried than before. " He just wouldn't expect anyone else to risk their life for us the way he would." the priestess seemed to be a little mollified by this.
"What in Mothers name did you do Lyra!" shouted Bjorn, as he springs out of the bed, deciding he had heard enough! But just as fast as he jumped up, he fell back down, smacking his head on the floor and making him go unconscious again.
Lyra couldn't help but to burst out laughing. She had seen her brother take many a hits to the head so she wasn't worried for his health. If anything she was more worried his hard head had dented the floor. That last thought about made HER fall to the ground, as she laughed even harder at her own joke.
All the while the priestess puts Bjorn back into bed while looking at Lyra like she had three heads. Lyra stifled her laughter to say "trust me, when he wakes up and we tell him that i had you guys mark me and Kimbal with a magical tattoo, you'll be glad some of the fight was knocked out of him. You'll probably wish to knock some more out of him yourself"
"He would rather you guys live on the streets, and fight everyday?" asks the priestess, with a skeptical expression on her face.
"Not at all, but our mother also had a mark. Unlike hers though this one is not just symbolic. If my mom was to run away, no one would have stopped her, but she would always be marked as being someone else's property. But now if me and Kimbal run away...." she let her voice trail off
"You will be killed" the other woman finished for her, with a grim tone. "but the Great Mother would never ask your brothers to do anything for her! And we told you generally what to expect before you agreed. The reason for the mark is so you cant reveal any of the Mothers secrets. Especially what you see here at the temple. In some ways the mark protects you more than her."
Lyra thought the last bit felt a bit ominous. " What do you mean by that?" she asked
"Its not humans who are after the Great Mothers secrets. Those who are powerful enough to take advantage of such knowledge would not hesitate to kidnap you and torture you. They would take pleasure in doing it for years and years, even after you told them everything they wanted to know. The mark let's those forces know that it is pointless to try, and that the risk greatly outweighs the gain" The way the priestess spoke, and the hollow look in her eye chilled Lyra to the bone. "For your brothers sake i hope he accepts the mark. It's going to be bad enough for him, having to conceal his power constantly, but if anyone finds out that he was allowed to leave these walls without a mark, I shudder thinking of the consequences."
To say Lyra wasn't scared, would be lying. She knew in her heart though that this was where they were supposed to be. "Dont worry, he'll get the mark." said Lyra with a laugh and impish smile, trying to dispel the gloomy atmosphere. "That's why me and Kimbal got the mark first. There's no way Bjorn would leave us here by ourselves. Though he is going to be quite mad."
Even the priestess couldn't help but chuckle. " I understand that you know your brother is tough, but are you not scared that he collapsed?" she asked
"This is not the first time that this has happened. I dont know how it is for other abilities, but mine a Bjorns affects our stamina. The more we use it the more tired we get." Lyra explained "One time Bjorn suspended two teenagers in the air with nothing but his mind before throwing them into a wall. He collapsed immediately afterwards and was out for two days. I was so worried I used my ability on a healer to get him checked out, but the healer said it was just exhaustion. That healer then sold my information to anyone who would buy it. We've been on the run ever since."
The priestess had a weird look on her face as she asked "Why did Bjorn do that to those teenagers"
"It was probably only about a month after we found Kimbal. One of the teenagers had come up behind me and snatched him out if my hands, spilling the goats milk i had been feeding him everywhere." Lyra said with an icy tone "They then told Bjorn and me that we would only get him back if the pair could each take a turn with me." At those words the dragon priestess looked away in horror. "To their surprise Bjorn immobilized them and I collected Kimbal. You know the rest." She watched the dragon priest carefully {Bjorn is not a monster, he just does what he has to do. An animal maybe, but not a monster} if these people didn't accept Bjorn then she made a huge mistake.
When the great mother had touched Lyras mind, she had filled it with such warmth and kindness that it felt wrong not to accept her offer. Looking back on it made Lyra very worried.
It must have shown in her face because The priestess finally responded. "You dont have to worry, I would never bring someone I thought to be dangerous into my home. Putting your life on the line everyday for someone else is not something a monster would do." Then with a smile she said "But a animal on the other hand, would do that and more for those they loved." making Lyra smile too.
Bjorn woke up a day later, and as Lyra predicted he agreed to get the mark. Though as Lyra also predicted, he was not happy about it. Having the decision made for him made him feel trapped inside the Dragon Temple. Lyra was never around. Since she had agreed to be Sasha's apprentice her role at the temple was that of a student. Everyday was filled with studying for her. What made Bjorn even more angry though was that she wasn't allowed to tell him what she was learning about. Ever since he could remember they had shared everything with eachother. So now to be away from her for such long periods of time and to not even be able to freely discuss their days, really had Bjorn on edge.
The boys around his age that lived in the temple all learned how to read and write together, but that was all they were taught. The rest of the time they were free to amuse themselves. To the ten other boys, this was heaven. They got to play in the temples lush garden and pretty much do whatever they wanted as long as they didn't disturb anyone.
Bjorn hated every second of it. Well that was a lie, he liked learning to write and was entranced by reading. They were skills he never thought he'd have the opportunity to learn. So naturally he absorbed the information like a sponge. While the other kids would play, Bjorn would practice reading." This pissed some of the boys off.
One afternoon after class, Bjorn was reading in the garden, under one of the many trees. Belith, and two of his goons came swaggering up. Bjorn had lived on the streets for to long to not to realize when violence was in the air. Belith was much bigger than Bjorn. Where Bjorn was small for his age and obviously a little malnourished, Belith looked like he had never skipped a meal in his life and was much bigger than he had any right to be. That combined with the sneer Belith shot Bjorns way, had Bjorn pissed. He had been cooped up in this temple for weeks now, and these assholes wanted to interrupt one of the few things that brought him pleasure while he was a prisoner behind these walls. {Let class with Bjorn begin} he thought with entirely to much enjoyment, the grin spreading on his face making the three boys a little nervous.
Belith and company were about three yards from Bjorn, the tree he had been reading under happend to be at the top of a slight hill. He had been timing their footsteps as they approached, {these fools were so far up eachothers asses they even walked in sync} he thought with a laugh. As he laughed he also stepped forward. When Bjorn stepped forward with that smile on his face and laughter ringing from his lips, it made all three boys hesitate for a split second. That split second of hesitation stopped their forward motion, three boys were also in bewteen steps, exactly what Bjorn had been waiting for. He ever so gently pushed them, barely tipping them off there balance. Anyone watching from an outside point of view would have been very amused/confused to see all three boys tumble down the hill, as the boy still at the top laughed his ass off.
The scene quickly became less comical as the biggest boy at the bottom of the hill began attracting clouds over top of his head. As the clouds became more dense electricity crackled inside of them.
Bjorn took a pebble out of his pocket with an unfazed expression. {To bad they confiscated my rope-dagger} he thought ruefully. {Time to teach this idiot a lesson about leaving yourself wide open during a fight} With a grin he lobbed the pebble at Belith, Who thought the kid had gone insane or something after witnessing his ability. That was until the pebble disappeared before his eyes, to suddenly reappear striking him dead in the center of his forehead, knocking him out instantly.
All Bjorn could hear after he knocked Belith out was hysterical laughter coming from behind him! He spun around to see a middle aged man with a long black beard that extended to his chest wearing a Hunters uniform! "Now kid, I could be wrong but that's not exactly keeping a low profile." the man said while still laughing "The Great Mother is going to be upset you showed yourself already! But damn was it funny!"
"I'm Brom the Hunter." he says sticking his hand out.
Bjorn just looks at it unsure of what to do.
Brom awkwardly put his hand back by his side and says "And I'll be the guy that teachs you how to not get yourself killed with that power of yours." Bjorn could've sworn that after saying those words , he could see an Apex predator lying dormant in this man's eyes..
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone