Arcanum of Magic

[jiahao_94]

That's the point. It's too heavy.

[NegiWarrior]

That's the point. It's too heavy.

That's why you hire big buff people.... with chain guns.

[gasy222]

Nah, Maybe a Minigun, or a Shotgun, The chainguns run out of ammo fast (so do miniguns i guess) Oh and the shotgun is my favorite Gun 0.0

[gutterball930]

chain gun can hold up to 2000 bullets and is in like 5 miniuts empty but its not as heavy as people think

[gasy222]

oh................................................ ....... (packs a chaingun with 10 clips)

[XxKiraYamatoxX]

Let's not get off-topic here.

Chapter 4

Cody was taken to the hospital for treatment, while Freya and I went back home, practically shoved into the car by our anxious parents. Still, it didn't stop us from visiting him at the hospital. It turned out that he was pretty much an orphan, as both his parents had died in a car crash last year. He was discharged a few days later, but he wasn't the same person he was before the bomb attack that killed over 3000 people. He avoided conversation, and tended to walk off alone. He was living at our house for now, having no other place to go to. Every time I tried to follow him, I would see him staring at the lake in the nearby park. Freya was attempting to catch up on her studies, but it would be a while before we managed to get a new school.

"Earth to Cody, helloooo......" I whispered in Cody's ear. He was at his usual spot, staring at the lake. No response. I sighed, then tapped him on the nose. Nothing. He was totally zoned out...... but I thought I knew something that might be able to help him snap out of things. I leaned over in front of him and slowly, surely, edged my face towards his. When our lips were half a centimeter apart, he finally reacted, "Hey!" and promptly fell backwards onto the grass. "Welcome back to Earth." I laughed, pulling him up.

Gentle ripples moving slowly across the still surface of the lake in front of us. Full moon's light illuminating the world. It was really beautiful...... "I wish I could just grab a sketch book and paint this scene." I sighed, placing my head on Cody's shoulders. "It's a nice view all right... I wonder if those people that died in that bomb attack can see this......" he mumbled. "So thats what you were thinking about." I looked at him. "Yeah."

"If only there was a way to get rid of all terrorism in the world." I could see Cody's arms shaking. His hands were clenched into fists. "Cody......" I muttered, placing my hand on his back. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a flash of light in the sky. A shooting star! I quickly closed my eyes to make a wish, that Cody would be happy. "Um, Cecilia. There's something in the water." he suddenly said. I opened my eyes.

"Where?" I glanced around. Cody pointed at a dark shadow at the bottom of the lake, and it seemed to be rising. I was paralyzed with fear as part of a gigantic green snake rose up out of the water's surface, parting the clear blue water. Then, I spotted the light in the sky again. It was still there? It seemed to be getting closer though. Rather unsettlingly. "Cecilia!"

Cody pushed me to the ground as the head of a giant snake shot through the air where our heads had previously been. I found him lying on top of me, and felt my own face turning red. "Sorry." he quickly apologized and got up. The snake was completely on the ground now, and it did NOT look happy. I got up as well and grabbed Cody's arm, pulling him away. The snake didn't follow for some reason, and was staring at the sky. I looked up, praying that it wasn't some kind of trick.

The 'shooting star' I had spotted earlier was so close, it's light almost burnt my eyes. The next thing I knew, the thing exploded, sending pieces of rock flying all over the place, bombarding Cody and me in a rock shower. "Ouch!" I yelped as one hit me on the back. A particularly big piece had fallen just in front of me, but it...... didn't seem like a rock at all. It was shaped like a longbow, the type that was used several hundred years ago.

"Ssss...." the snake hissed behind us. A fearful glance behind told me that it had started moving again. I picked up a rock and threw it at the snake. It bounced off without any effect. Cody threw one too. Again, no effect. The snake only got even madder. "Damn." he cursed and started running. I had my eyes on the longbow. It looked like it was made out of metal, with an ornately carved... somehow... shaft and grip. Two blue balls seemed to be stuck in the metal at both ends of the shaft.

The bow seemed to be calling out to me, and my body responded without my mind actually doing anything. I sprinted over to the bow and picked it up. "Cecilia, what's that?" Cody asked, slowing down. "I don't know, but it might be the only thing that can help now. As far as I know, no one around here has a gun license or guns." I turned around to face the snake, gripping the bow with my left hand. It was almost as long as I was! No arrows, but the bow was telling me that it didn't need any.

The snake had stopped again, looking scared as I drew the bowstring back with my right hand. The two balls started a emit a faint green glow, then light particles appeared in the air around me, flocking towards the balls. To Cody, I looked like I was inside a sphere of those light particles. As the particles gathered, the first signs of an arrow appeared on the bow. A green arrow made out of those light particles.

However, halfway through, the balls stopped glowing, and the half-formed arrow disappeared into thin air. "Huh?" I stared at the bow, panicked. "Sssso......" the snake suddenly spoke. I stared at it, now really scared. "You are the...... Chosssssen One......" it hissed. What? The Chosen One? I hadn't done anything special! Of course, other than somehow surviving the nuke... and the terrorist attack right after...... But still, I hadn't done anything!

The snake reared up and opened it's mouth, quickly sliding towards me. I screamed and ran after Cody, still holding the bow. "Drop that bow and just run!" he yelled. "No!" I shook my head. "Parvulus, vos postulo non vereor." someone whispered. The person talking seemed to be old, judging by his voice, but I couldn't understand a word he was saying! "Who's there?" I looked around. "So you do not understand Latin. It would appear that this world has changed much."

"Latin?" I mused, picking up the pace as the snake's hissing grew louder.
"Yes. The language used by water magicians to cast their spells in the past." the voice said. Wait, magicians?
"I can hear your thoughts, so you do not need to say anything. Yes, magicians exist even in this age, using endless violence to attain their goals. You see, every century, the Great Magical War takes place, and all magician villages around the world participate. Ten villages around the world are divided into Fire, water, wind, earth and lightning. The people wielding the last element standing will presumably obtain the ultimate magical powers."
"Who... are you?" I asked the voice.
The voice replied, "I am the bow currently in your hands. I am the Bow of The Falling Stars."
"The Bow of the Falling Stars? Thats a nice name."
"There is no time. You must learn to use me to save your life."
"So how do I use you?"
"All spells my owner uses are transformed into arrows, and the process sucks up a form of magical energy present in the air. Orgone."
"So I just have to cast a spell."
"Yes."
"I don't know any."
"Ventus Tondeo."
"What?"
"Use that spell! Hurry!"

I turned around and stood my ground, aiming my bow at the approaching snake. "Ventus Tondeo!" I yelled, hopeful. The bow didn't let me down. The Orgone particles gathered into the balls again, and a blue arrow appeared on the string, having formed in a split second. This one stayed, and it appeared to be made out of wind. I drew the string back and let fly once I had pulled it back as far as I could.

The poorly-aimed arrow struck the snake right through the body, and it flinched. "Yes!" I whooped, only to resume running as the snake hissed and continued chasing me. Cody was a bit further in front of me, and he was looking back over his shoulders with an amazed expression on his face. "Ventus Tondeo!" I yelled again, shooting the arrow at the snake's head. It missed by a centimeter, but the snake reeled off to the side, apparently having been hit. "The Wind Shear spell can hurt enemies even if the spell misses by a lone centimeter. You were lucky to have hit the snake's brain."

The snake collapsed to the ground, with black blood oozing out of a cut on the side of the head. My first spell had missed the blood vessels in the body, so there wasn't any blood there. Cody stopped running and walked up to me, amazed. "How did you......" he stared at me. "I think we should go back home first." I eyed the lights coming on in the neighborhood. Our little chase had woken up some of the residents, and I wasn't keen on answering questions. I had to hold the Bow of the Falling Stars all the way back home and sneak it up into my room. Luckily, my foster parents and Freya were asleep, as it was an hour past midnight.

"So, what's that?" Cody pointed at the Bow of the Falling Stars.
"It's the Bow of the Falling Stars. I guess you could say it's a special bow that amplifies magical powers." I smiled.
"Magical powers? So you're some kind of magician then." he grunted.
"According to it, I am one. I wonder why no one ever told me about it......" I sighed.
"Probably because they never knew......"
"That snake...... said something about me being the Chosen One..."
"Chosen One?"
"Don't ask, I have no idea what's going on either."

[jiahao_94]

Thanks for helping me up, even though you caused me to fall in the first place.

And we're getting off-topic 'cos your fanfic is excellent, but updating really slowly. Tantalism.

[Timmias]

Lol agreed, may as well stick the words cliff Hanger, or pending at the end, keep up the work Kira

[gutterball930]

XD LOL chap

[Publica]

Nice work, wanna know something? You got me addicted after I read the Prologue. o.o
There only few books that managed to do this... Artemis Fowl namely.