Quitetly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled his heart for what was to come, the killing blow he'd been preparing was suddenly struck. He fell forward into the air, the invisible blow made him feel he was weightless as it carried him backwards. The hit left him stunned but not damaged, for the hit was just a feint from the dark, the strike had been done while the boy was at attention to his adversary, and not in the moment that the sword's blade had penetrated his flesh. The boy fell in pain to his knees and he could feel something wet seep through his pants leg. Looking down he could see that Quiggly's blade had been planted in his shoulder, it had nicked the upper edge of his left arm. Even though he was stunned he was able to register that he had a chance to survive. 'Aaaahhhhhh' Quiggly groaned as he stood up with a knife in his hand. Quiggly was shocked at what he saw, the boy was still alive and fighting back, a huge wound was in his shoulder but there was something glowing red coming from the blade. With the pain of being hit from behind now subsiding, he felt fresh waves of confusion pass through his body. His mind was confused and it wasn't until a few moments after that he realised that he had failed to wound him. 'I thought he'd be finished' Quiggly grunted, 'but somehow he can still continue to fight. His sword glows, like magic'. 'I can't feel my body, I can't breathe, I'm fading' Quiggly wheezed. 'It's useless to try to kill him, the poison is taking control of me'. Quiggly stared down at his hands. 'I must have done some damage to my lungs'. Quiggly sat on the ground as he began to feel tired. He slowly leaned back against a tree with the tip of his sword resting against the trunk. His eyes were closed and his breathing became irregular as he struggled to breathe. Quiggly felt confused, he could hardly believe that he was getting killed by a single boy. Not so long ago he had a chance to become a master, a master that was going to receive many times the amount of gold that a single master received. 'Don't kill me' Quiggly pleaded. 'I still don't get it'. He looked at his hand and saw his breath leaving his lips. 'I don't want to die'. The boy's face appeared behind him and he watched as the sword went through Quiggly's torso and stuck out of his back. 'Quiggly' the boy's voice said, Quiggly felt another shock of energy flow from the boy's blade into him. 'You are going to die'. The boy was now at full strength as a man. He had defeated a single apprentice, now he knew that he could defeat anything, master or apprentice, and now he would see just what kind of master he was to be. Quiggly felt his last breath leave his lungs and he watched as it evaporated from his lips and out of his mouth, he knew that he was dying and he wasn't going to survive. * The black boy looked over Quiggly as he lay on the ground. 'You are not well' he thought, 'you will die when they come for you'. Quiggly had become weaker but the boy was beginning to understand that his weakness wouldn't be a problem. He would be a powerful king and master. It was the boy's intention to keep Quiggly at a distance from his brother, and he planned on returning the three master mages that would be coming for the boy's body, after the one had been killed. The boy watched as the master mages were brought to his master. The master mages were shocked and taken aback when they saw the boy, the black boy was bigger and he had the body of a man. They saw the sword that he carried, for a long time they didn't know what to make of it, as for some of them, their minds couldn't comprehend it. He then saw the boy push through them and the body of their master. 'That boy is a king' one of them said. They began talking about the boy, about his strength, about how the apprentices had failed, about how he had stood alone with one apprentice and killed him, they began to say that this was something more than an apprentice, and they said that it was clear that he was going to be the next generation master mage. The boy watched as he heard what the apprentices had to say about him, he made his way into the thick dark forest away from Quiggly's body and waited for the master mages to stop talking. He didn't see them as they walked towards him, but he could hear them, they were far away from him, in the distance. 'I can't wait till I make him feel the way I do when I have my own sword against him' one of the mages said. 'You don't have to do that' another one spoke, 'you need to focus on a strategy to kill him, and we need to be very careful'. 'What's wrong with the two of you? I mean if he's better than me then I don't mind going against him'. 'He's a boy, for all we know he's just an apprentice'. 'What if he's the new master mage?' 'We need to be careful' the apprentices pleaded, 'we should never be too sure of ourselves'. 'He's a boy, you're a boy' one of the mages said as he thought about all the pain he had endured and about what he could do to the boy. 'But we have to test him' another mage said, 'we know that he's only a boy and he's nothing compared to us'. 'I'm telling you all, he's way stronger than you, he's nothing, he'll die easily'. 'If we don't test him now, then it could be done and gone, once again we miss out and let our enemy escape'. 'We haven't let any enemy escape, and you're not going to let him escape'. 'Yes, this boy has some strength but he is not a master mage, I have fought many mages and seen some incredible powers but not like his'. 'Well I think we should test him first, before any of us, and see what we've got to work with'. * The master mages continued their strategy, the boy watched them as they were arguing about him. He had a lot of respect for the boy's master. 'What are you planning?' the boy asked as the boy heard them talking. The boy's master made his way over to the boy and his minions. 'Well' the master mage started, 'I want you to take the boy's body'. 'No' the boy said, 'you can't do that, he's as much a master as you'. 'I want you to attack him' the master mage insisted. The boy walked over to the body of Quiggly and looked down at him. 'Quiggly's weak' the boy thought. 'I've got so much more strength than him'. 'You've got nothing' the boy turned and said as he walked back over to his master. 'I'm going to take his body' the master mage said. 'No you're not' the boy demanded. 'Yes I am' the master mage said. 'I know you can do it' the boy said. 'I'm going to do it' the master mage said. 'I won't let you take his body' the boy whispered. 'I have to take his body'. 'No, you're going to fail'. 'I need you to stay here' the master mage said. 'You're not going to win'. 'I'm going to win'. 'I'm stronger than you' the boy said. 'You're a boy, you're nothing' the master mage said. 'I'll kill you'. 'You're going to die' the master mage said, 'don't do it'. The boy looked at his body and he looked at the boy, 'I know what it's like to die' the boy thought, 'but my master was stronger and I won't let him suffer'. 'Kill me' the boy whispered, 'kill me'. 'If you do that, then you'll never become stronger' the master mage said. The boy looked at the boy in front of him and thought about the strength of his master and then about his own strength. 'You're stronger than him' the boy thought to himself, 'you're more of a fighter than he is'. 'You're going to help him' the master mage said, 'do it'. 'I don't need to do anything' the boy thought. 'I need you to help me, if you're not going to help me, then I'll just kill him