Young Writers Society

At the end of the school day, Ktyra went to the window in the front of the school to wait for her parents to pick her up in a horse carriage taxi. She always rode her bike back home, so she wasn’t used to being picked up, and it was a little awkward because she didn’t know what to do.

In most of the times that her parents picked her up, they were late, but today, for once, they were actually on time because they knew that she couldn’t be late for her doctor’s appointment.

When she saw her mother in a horse carriage that was pulling up by the front, she quickly picked up her satchel and walked out the door, saying goodbye to Ms. Crystal. Then she walked over to the carriage before opening the door and hopping in.

It wasn’t a very fancy carriage, since it was just a simple taxi for the common folk, and it was usually very loud and uncomfortable. On the outside, it was a plain, unpainted wood with large wheels and a white, curved roof. The seats had worn-out leather, the walls had some carvings and vandalisms, and the windows were slightly scratched. The coach nodded and smiled at Ktyra as she entered the carriage.

When she entered, her mother was wearing a light purple shirt dress, and her father was wearing a baby blue shirt. They were both sitting on one side, and there was no more room on that side, so she sat on the other seat opposite them.

“How was your day of school, sweetheart?” her mother asked Ktyra.

“It was good, I suppose,” Ktyra replied. “It wasn’t bad, that’s for sure.”

“That’s good,” her father said, smiling.

With a lurch, the carriage started moving. They all suddenly swayed to the side as the carriage moved.

“Can you please tell me what’s going to happen at the doctor’s appointment?” Ktyra pleaded to her parents.

“I already told you,” Andromeda replied, “it’s just a checkup.”

“But there must be more to it than that!” Ktyra exclaimed. “Didn’t Dr. Chrysswheel tell you anything else?”

Andromeda sighed. “It’s a test.”

Ktyra’s eyes widened. “A test? A test for what?”

“Calm down, Ktyra,” Vtynno interjected, “we can’t tell you anything more because it might affect how you perform in the test. That’s what Dr. Chrysswheel told us.”

“She told you guys to not tell me something?” Ktyra said, annoyed. “Why is she keeping secrets? Did I do something wrong? Am I ‘not mature enough?' Is that it? Am I ever going to know what the test is for?”

“Like your father said, it’s just to make sure you won’t do something differently in the test because we told you what is going to happen in it. It’s just a precaution.” Andromeda reassured her, trying her best to keep calm. “And whether you find out or not is the doctor’s choice.”

“So there’s a fifty percent chance of me going into that clinic, doing some weird magic test thing with a fancy-pants sorcerer, you and the doctor whispering about what happened, and me coming out of there and never knowing why I ever went in there?”

Ktyra’s parents looked at each other and then paused for a second before saying, “Yes. that’s about right.” at the same time. Ktyra scowled. Andromeda tried to change the topic by spending the rest of the trip asking Ktyra what happened in her day, but the question of what Ktyra would be doing at the doctor’s was still lingering in her mind.

They arrived at the doctor’s office shortly after. It was a simple, two-story building, and was made out of wood and looked similar to an inn. The carriage stopped outside the clinic, and Ktyra and her parents stepped out of the carriage and thanked the coach. They walked to the front of the clinic where the door was. There was a wooden sign hung above the door reading, “CORNER VILLAGE MEDICAL CLINIC.” They walked into the clinic.

The waiting room was lit by oil lamps around the room, giving a warm and comforting glow to the room. The chairs were black, simple and uniform, with a shiny finish. They were placed neatly around the room for the patients to wait for their doctor, with tables every now and then.

Ktyra’s parents walked up to the reception desk where an expressionless, skinny young woman sat, wearing dark and boring clothes, writing things on a clipboard, with a face that said, I hate my job all over.

“Excuse me,” Vtynno asked the girl at the counter. Ktyra didn’t hear the rest of what he said because she turned and started pacing back and forth, bored and waiting for them to finish.

“Yes, Doctor Chrysswheel has been waiting for you for some time.” Ktyra heard the receptionist say, before turning around. That was strange. Usually when they came, they had to wait quite a while because Dr. Chrysswheel had a lot of patients. But she had been waiting for them for a long time. It’s probably just convenience. Ktyra thought.

The girl turned around to her colleague behind her. “Hey Marrie, can you lead that girl to the room?” She asked in a dull tone. Her colleague was the exact opposite of the girl. She was a plump woman, who seemed to be about in her late thirties, and she wore a very colorful shirt and skirt, and she was smiling brightly.

“Sure!” the woman named Marrie said cheerfully.

“Wait, ‘that girl?’ You mean we’re not coming with her?” Andromeda asked.

“Dr. Chrysswell said that this must be done by her alone. You will be allowed to come in later, when she calls you in.” The emotionless girl said.

“Come with me, miss!” Marrie said to Ktyra, gesturing for her to follow.

As she walked past her, her mother whispered, “Remember what we said.” Ktyra followed Marrie down a different hallway than usual. Usually she went to one of the rooms in the other hallways for check-ups, but today she was going in a completely different direction. She had only been in this hallway when she went to the bathroom

“Why aren’t we going into one of the check-up rooms?” Ktyra asked Marrie.

“Oh, you’re not getting a check-up,” Marrie replied, smiling. “We’re going to a room called the ‘arcane room.’ It’s an extra space used for check-ups not about physical health but about supernatural health.”

“Supernatural?” Ktyra asked.

“Oh you know, relating to mag….anyway, we’re here already!” Marrie pointed to a room they had stopped at. It had a door that was painted black and had a gold plaque that read, ”ARCANE ROOM.”

“Dr. Chrysswheel is waiting inside with the…special guest,” Marrie informed Ktyra, giggling. “Good luck!”

“Good luck with what?” Ktyra asked, but Marrie was already walking away. Ktyra had so many questions, and her hands were sweating strangely profusely. She hurriedly wiped her hands on her shirt and went inside, knowing that she was not at all ready for what was to come.

She opened the brass door. It was cold. It was dark inside, there were no windows, and the oil lamps were the only source of light, though there were only two. In the middle of the room was a rectangular wooden table, at which there were two chairs, one on each of the long sides. In the chair further away from the door sat a man in a navy blue cloak, with a crest on it with the Sorcerer's Association logo: an apple with ivy leaves wrapped around it. He had deep eye bags under his smoky gray eyes and he looked at Ktyra sternly, making Ktyra a little intimidated. Nearby, Dr. Chrysswheel was standing, with her clean white lab coat.

“Good afternoon, Ktyra,” Dr. Chrysswheel said. Ktyra realized she’d been staring, and she shook it off. “Please, come in and have a seat.” She gestured to the empty seat at the table.

Ktyra shakily walked into the room, her palms sweating again, and her heart beating rapidly like a drum against her chest. All she could think about was, There’s an intimidating sorcerer in my clinic, there’s an intimidating sorcerer in my clinic, there’s an intimidating sorcerer in my clinic. As she walked to the chair, the man followed her with his eyes.

Ktyra sat down in the chair wearily. She felt very nervous, and she had no idea as to why.

“Ktyra, this is High Sorcerer Emmenwell,” Dr. Chyrsswheel explained. “He will be performing the test for you today.” High Sorcerer? That means he works for the government! Ktyra thought. She had never seen a High Sorcerer before. And there was a test? Ktyra became even more confused.

On the rectangular table sat a small wooden cup with purple, shimmery liquid, and a large, white, and murky crystal orb that was on a circular stand.

“Please drink the liquid in the cup.” Sorcerer Emmenwell instructed Ktyra. His tone was said in such a way that you had no idea what he was thinking.

Ktyra grabbed the cup nervously, and looked into it. “All of it?” she asked. The sorcerer nodded. Ktyra quickly drained the liquid as fast as she could. It had a bitter taste, even more bitter than cough medicine, but it seemed to have a slight flavor of berry.

“Do you feel anything in your veins? As if there’s magic coursing through your veins?” The sorcerer asked her. Ktyra shook her head. She didn’t think she had that feeling. It was just like drinking a regular drink. But the real question was, why did that matter?

“I see,” the sorcerer said. “Alright then.” Ktyra thought this meant that the “test” was over, but he grabbed the crystal orb, and took it off the stand. He placed it on the table, while still holding onto it. Then he muttered something under his breath, and the crystal ball started glowing and it levitated a few inches off the table.

“Please place your hands on this orb,” the sorcerer said. Ktyra put her hands on the orb. It was also cold, but she didn’t feel anything. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to, but she kept her hands there.

“Do you feel anything now?” the sorcerer asked.

“No.” Ktyra replied.

“Let me take a closer look.” Ktyra thought that he meant that he was going to take out a microscope or something, but then he put his hands on top of hers, and closed his eyes. Ktyra didn’t feel anything, but she saw that Sorcerer Emmenwell’s eyes were moving rapidly under his eyelids, and his face was becoming more worried by the second.

Suddenly, Ktyra felt a small electric spark in her hands, and she quickly retracted her hand by reflex. Sorcerer Emmenwell seemed to have felt it too, because he also jerked his hand back.

“W-what happened?” Ktyra asked.

“My apologies, I looked too deep,” the sorcerer said. He no longer had that stern look on his face, he now looked very worried. Which was a little bit of a relief to Ktyra, because his previous expression was intimidating. “You may leave. And please tell your parents to come to this room. We have to speak with them in private.” He turned to Dr. Chysswheel and nodded. Based on the sorcerer’s tone, what he was going to tell them was something that either they weren’t going to like, or some big important news that was very important. Ktyra hoped for the latter.

“Wait, am I ever going to find out what that test meant?” Ktyra asked.

“That is up to you parents to decide,” Sorcerer Emmenwell told her. “Now go!”

Ktyra walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. She had just completed that test, and it was in even more confusion than before. Up to her parents to decide? It was just being passed back and forth. She was probably never going to find out. She had to take this matter into her own hands.