To Siony, my best friend, on the occasion of her birthday.

Author's notes: For the first draft of this story, I spent half the night writing. But for Siony, no pain was too great, provided she be presented with a masterpiece worthy of her greatness. I hereby present you, the readers, with the first story to clutter my newly wiped computer, digitally remastered especially for Fiction Press. Here's to laying it on thick... the line of wwwwwwwwwwww indicates a change in scenes. Curse this annoying new update of Fictionpress... Things used to be so much simpler.

Grudge

The Lovely Myra is a young woman truly deserving of the capital letters with which I so grace her name... Her glossy black hair, entrancing like the darkness, her large, lovely eyes the color of purest gold, her beautiful ashen grey complexion, her delicately pointed ears, her ready wit, her compassionate heart, everything about her is as enchanting as any spell. And indeed, though she knows it not, she has cast a spell upon me.

I gaze upon her at a distance, taking in her lithe, athletic form as she limbers up. She is surrounded by other young Drow, all stretching for fencing practice. The fools. They do not know how Fortune favors them, to be so close to such a radiant creature. For my part, Fate has always hated me. I lean upon the closest parapet to the center of the arena basking in Lady Myra's presence, not daring to go any nearer: she is a Squire, a Great Lady in the making, and I am but a humble sorcerer. She must never know my heart.

Here she comes, straight at me! Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods, what am I going to do, what am I going to say? What can I say to her??

"Hey, I've seen you around before, haven't I? You're from Myrnor Academy, right? A magic student?" she asks, her voice melodious. She spoke to me!! Ah, to think I would see this day...

"Er... Yes, that is, I'm from Myrnor Academy, not that... I mean, and I'm a magic student too... But uh..." I stammer.

Bless her, she smiles, and I am drowned in the warmth of her expression. "Hey, take your time. You're not in a hurry are you?" Ah, her kindness, to be civil with such a wretch as I... "You come every day, though, don't you? To watch us practice? It's odd, normally, sorcerers aren't interested in such fights, are they? But anyways, thanks. It's kind of fun to have an audience."

"Uh, no problem?" Damn it, why can I not speak?!

"Myra! Hey!" I hear a voice from the other side of the stadium. "Weren't you going to show me those parries?"

"Oh, Lellankell, sorry to keep you waiting!" And Lovely Myra quits my company, without so much as a goodbye. And I never even got to tell her my name.

Accursed Lellankell... How I hate the knave, the cur, the simple-minded fool! He steals my spotlight all the time. Although I, Orrenyl,am the best student in my class, a scholarship student, that simpleton gets all the praise! He's not even a mage, being of mind too average to grasp more than the simplest attack spells, and not a Squire either, being of body too soft to lift more than a rapier... And yet the pretentious fool would be both! I damn him thrice! Every time I try to impress a girl, he always comes along and ruins my plans! Not once could my plans ever have been foiled, save for his interference. Thus he yells coarsely at my lioness, disrespecting her and raining on my parade simultaneous.

Well... I've had it. No longer will I allow that scum to bask in glory, while I, overshadowed, am barely noticed! A year I've been attending all Lady Myra's practices, and now she finally realizes I exist, and that cretin... Evil deeds will come his way, I shall make sure of that...

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"Orrenyl, I don't think I understood what the professor said. Would you please take the time to explain it to me? I would really appreciate it." says the imbecile to me as I walk out of class the next day. "You know, I really admire you. You're so smart. If I had half your brains I would be ahead of the game."

Scheming to give me lobotomy, you pathetic little tunnel-snake? As well you should. I open my mouth to give a scathing reply, but I close it again. Hmmm... Maybe it would prove interesting to have him think I'm on his side.

"Why, certainly, friend. I would be delighted to tutor you in the finer points of magic... Aheheheheh..." I cut off my imminent maniacal laugh. Perfect. He will never suspect my deep loathing of him.

"Great! Thank you so much!" He grins widely, the gullible fool. "So is Lilyday good for you?" he asks.

"Lilyday is no good. How about Marketday?" I reply. Marketday, of course, is a day normally spent in festivities... And thus my plan to make Lellankell's life miserable begins. Muahahahahah!!!!! And I will not tutor him, but merely give him erroneous suggestions, so cunningly that he will never notice them for what they are...

"Fine with me! I can't wait." he agrees. His ignorance must be the cause of his bliss. He's so enthusiastic about everything, even spending Marketdays in-tunnels slaving away over magical theory. Well, maybe not in-tunnels. Things might get messy. I grin myself, in sweet anticipation of what is to come.

"No, no, no, no! Don't relax! CONCENTRATE! CONCENTRATE! How can you ever expect to conjure fire if you can't control it?" I yell at the simpleton, thoroughly enjoying this. We are in the arena, left bare by the Marketday rush. It is a great affair, it must be, because every so often there are races run here. The ground area is a kilometer long and five hundred meters wide, and a marvel of Dwarvish architecture.

All I can feel from Lellankell is a bare trickle of power, smaller even than usual. And not by accident. Spells are an exercise in controlled relaxation. I am telling Lellankell to do the exact opposite.

"This isn't working..." he sighs. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

"Lellankell, don't you trust me? Would I lie to you?" I suppress an evil chuckle.

"Of course. But..."

"You're just not trying hard enough." I interrupt harshly.

Lellankell stands in the middle of the arena, concentrating so hard his mind must be aching. I look at his pursed expression with much amusement. The credulous fool! I refuted the very basics of magic, and he believed me!

"Pirosferi!" he tries one last time. And much to my astonishment, a small fireball pops into existence between his hands. I cannot believe my eyes. But the fireball gets bigger, first the size of a marble, then the size of a crystal ball, then the size of a head, and bigger, and bigger, until my churlish student can no longer contain it.

By this time, I've been inching away. As it gets too big, I run as fast as my legs can carry me. "Fly!" I cry. Lellankell takes my advice to heart. He abandons the fireball and follows me, but too late. The magical construct strikes the ground and explodes, shoving him forward. He collapses face first on the ground.

I approach my fallen foe. "Is he dead?" I ask myself.

"Is that all you have to say?" Lellankell complains half-sarcastically as he gets up slowly and painfully. He looked at the scorch marks on the ground in concern. "I didn't think I was THAT bad." he sighed.

"Heh, don't worry. You've made a breakthrough. At least now you know you're capable of great power. All you need is control. I think that's enough for today." I decide. In future lessons I think I shall stay farther away from him. Oh, but what fun this was...

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Three days later, Lellankell asks if we can have lunch together so I can quiz him on theory. I would mislead him with that, too, but he could easily discover my ruse simply by looking in the textbook, so I have decided it is safer to be truthful with him where theory is concerned. Being an incompetent spellcaster alone is more than enough to earn him a failing grade.

"So what is the Law of Conservation of Magic?" I ask, but my mind wanders. I have just seen Lady Myra enter the cafeteria. She makes a beeline for our table.

"That's dead easy. You can't create magic or eliminate it. It's always there, it just changes places."

"Ah, Lellankell, I didn't expect to see you here." Oh, the sweet voice of an angel does not compare with hers... And yet she speaks only to that simpleton. I feel my hatred for him intensify.

"Oh, Orrenyl agreed to tutor me in magic. We're just going over the theory right now." answers my oblivious victim.

"Orrenyl... What a nice name. And you're our spectator, right?" Twice the same week has Myra spoken to me... If I died now, I would be a happy man. Bliss!

"Myra, do you mind? We're busy." The knave is trying to keep her away! No! I will not have it!

"Not particularly. Stay, Miss Myra."

"Orrenyl, I don't think I'll be able to concentrate..." Damn you, you half-wit son of a dwarf!

"Well, if that's the case, I should leave you two to your studying. Sorry to bother you. See you at practice, both of you." Myra gets up from the table and walks away briskly.

No! AAARGH! He did it again! He drove away the Lovely Myra! He'll pay for that too! I've had enough! Enough I say!

"Did you say anything, Orrenyl?"

I sigh. "No, Lellankell."

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"This way!"

"We're missing practice!"

"You don't have practice, you just watch it. If it's nothing to me, what's it to you if you miss this one time?"

I miss seeing Myra again, that's what. You're blind as well as stupid. I never was a good actor, and yet you swallow my every word as if it were the water of life, when what it is is poison.

I don't say anything.

"I heard there was a good library here." says Lellankell. He's dragging me along a rather shady part of downtown, past prostitutes and beggars, and possibly drug dealers and thieves too.

"The only high quality place I expect an area like this to have is a brothel! Where the Core are you taking me?!"

He takes a tunnel shortcut, with me still in tow.

"Idiot, you know we could get ourselves killed in here?" I snap. I am about to say more, but I stop myself. We've both stopped rushing. The tunnel is full of blood kra lilies. Their petals drip acid menacingly, and they advance upon us.

I can see Lellankell's eyes widen with horror. I know my own are doing the same. Blood kra lilies, the sign someone has been performing blood magic. Here in the red light district, I shouldn't have been surprised by this discovery, but...

We stand here, both petrified. "What are we going to do, Orrenyl?" whispers my terrified 'friend'.

War rages in my thoughts. Possibly, I could run and let him save himself, and good riddance if he fails to survive. Unfortunately, even if he fell prey to them, the ominous creatures might still follow me. Damn it all to the Core!

"Stand aside!" I command imperiously, taking a step forward, in defiance of my own affections, and of the little monsters. I had recently mastered a spell of purifying as extra credit. Purifying spells do not actually purify. They are meant to convert blood magic into normal magic, thereby erasing its evil. But blood kra lilies are normal magical constructs tainted by blood magic. I am not not sure whether my spell will work against it, but it's my only alternative.

Lellankell understands that I intend to fight: he unsheathes his sword. "Don't! The acid will drip straight through your vulgar piece of metal!" I snarl at him. "Just don't get in my way."

The blood magic is thick here. It's all I can do not to retch. I would not be surprised if Lellankell, despite his piddling magical talent, is also nauseous. The blood magic is so substantial, I hear it hum. I hear it chant in a high-pitched voice. Creepy crawly, creepy crawly, creepy crawly...

It is extremely irritating. It's about time I shut it and those evil blooms up. Spells are an exercise in controlled relaxation. I close my eyes, and breathe deeply. I draw on my own reserves of energy and shape it into a sphere between my hands... It grows larger and larger, and after a while I must cut my energies off from the sphere. I feel weary, I've already used too much power but I can't rest now. The ball keeps on growing bigger until I can no longer contain it, but this I'm doing on purpose. The ball now encompasses the kra lilies. I still hear the magic chanting creepy crawly creepy crawly creepy crawly. I ignore it. The sound is getting weaker. My energy sphere is mingling with the blood magic and the magic that animates the lilies. The sphere implodes with a pop. The lilies are dead, and I cannot feel any more blood magic. I open my eyes... And stagger.

Lellankell catches me. "You alright?" he asks with genuine concern.

"I'm fine. I don't need your help." I mutter. I push him away, and brace myself against the wall.

"You're not fine!" he exclaims crossly. He puts his shoulder under mine. I push him away again.

"All this is YOUR fault you know! Everything is your fault! You drive Myra away, just like all the other girls I've ever liked! Thanks to being concerned by your negative magical talent, the teachers ignore me, therefore slowing my progress in the magical arts to a crawl! And on top of that, all anyone does is praise you, you stupid, unworthy churl! I've hated you for a long time!" I yell at him.

"You're jealous of me for no good reason?!" Lellankell seems surprised and... hurt? "Look, there's nothing we can do about that now. Just let me walk you home. You're in no condition to make it there alone."

"And whose fault is that?" I fume. But he is right. For once in his life, he's right. I lean against him and we start hobbling back out the tunnel in silence.

We make it back to the hall, and Lellankell speaks up: "Thanks." he mutters. "You saved us." He stops. Then continues. "That was the most amazing bit of magic I've ever seen. Even more spectacular than that awry fireball."

I snort despondently. "War Mages shouldn't be impressed by by such a humble spell. And while we're on the subject of your fireball," I inject more sarcasm in my voice, "I don't know how you can ever hope to become a War Mage when you are ignorant enough to believe me when I refuted the very basics of spell casting."

"I didn't." deadpans the knave.

"Then why did you play along, you liar?!" I exclaim.

"It was... Oh, what's the point of telling?" he looks pained as he delays and debates with himself. Finally it looks like he comes to a decision:

"Oh, fine. It was an excuse to be with you."

What?! Well. This was unexpected. "Why the Core would you want to be with ME?"

Lellankell looks blank for a moment. I have a sudden feeling of dread.

"Why?" he starts. "It's because I love you, Orrenyl."

Author's notes: The thesaurus is my friend... I used enough synonyms for 'fool' to last me a lifetime.