Storm of Prophecy: Book 1, Dark Awakening by Michael Von Werner, Felix Diroma Read Free Book Online Page B

near fatal force had at least partial skill in its use.
    Both masters besides Clemens had a calm expression on each of their faces that showed nothing other than small interest, perhaps centered around their reason for being here. Master Clemens on the other hand, appeared more anxious to dispense with the formalities so he could speak with him personally. Everyone else’s face seemed to brighten when he showed himself well enough to sit up, and they began clapping.
    When Vincent looked down, he noticed that under his white blankets, he was wearing a white gown typical of those kept here in the infirmary who were seriously injured. His normal clothing lay cleanly washed, and neatly folded in a pile next to the bed. His sword was there too, in its scabbard, and looked much cleaner than it had been the night of the attack. He had secretly hoped that they wouldn’t have changed him, since that act was embarrassing for him and this attire now made him feel more vulnerable. The clothing itself was comfortable enough, he supposed, yet felt inappropriate somehow.
    Vincent looked on at the other guests assembled. Though the old wizard, Arrendis-his lifetime friend and mentor-was not visible, Vincent knew he was present, standing in the back somewhere as he always did on such public occasions. Among those gathered toward the front of the crowd were his other three closest friends.
    One was Rick, the red-haired, red-mustached pyromancer wearing crimson robes, whose energy and enthusiasm for most things was staggering at times. He was always positive, always on the go, never being disheartened or discouraged by damn near anything. Rick was also polite, encouraging toward others, and sometimes his vigor seemed to rub off. At the moment, he clapped more fervently than the rest at Vincent’s seemingly good health and even hooted and hollered. The other two were a girl he knew named Stacy and his cousin, Karl.
    Stacy was a talented and close student of Anthony’s who had long lovely brown hair, pretty blue eyes, and proudly wore a blue dress that signified her atmomantic calling. Her temperament was that of a hardworking scholar, yet she was never afraid to lend a helping hand to others who had trouble understanding. She often but not always looked at the endeavor, even assisting in some of the research, as an interesting challenge rather than an annoyance. Nevertheless, Vincent felt surprised and touched that she had come, and he knew right away that the recent events had given him much to look into that he might normally consider seeking her help for. If…he didn’t even know if he really wanted to stay, but if he did, he would certainly need her help now more than ever.
    His cousin, Karl, was only just over a year younger than he and wore the green robes tied to geomancy, a gift Vincent would have been glad to have been born with involving levitation, manipulation, and control of earth materials, even sometimes infusing it with life to create elementals, beings made of rock and other substances. Geomancers even had some control over water. He had once heard that his own gift, a control over metal, was thought by some to be a genetic offshoot of geomancy that only occurred randomly and was thus quite rare. The gift of magic was largely hereditary, and so he guessed this made sense since they were related.
    Lucky or not though, Vincent was stuck with what he had, and neither he nor Karl seemed to care much about the differences between their two abilities; it was simply a part of who they were. Karl’s blond hair was thick and full, and hung down to is shoulders, another contrast between them as Vincent’s was shorter and black. His eyes were a lighter shade of brown than Vincent’s and looked on warmly with a smile at knowing that he was alright. Both he and Stacy clapped quietly with Rick’s cheering while Rick put his thumb and first finger to his lips and blew with a loud, shrill whistle. Vincent could never understand how