Young Writers Society

Surprisingly, Kirthin did manage to get some sleep that night. He awoke early in the morning, just as the sun began to peek over the mountaintops. The valley in which Mahamiko rested was flooded with warm orange light as Kirthin began to make his way to the place that Tenkit had designated to be his first lesson. He was surprised to be told that his “secret” spot, the place where he always went to unwind after a hard day’s work, was to be the place of his first lessons in magic. He kicked a stone irritably as he trudged on. I didn’t seem so secret anymore...

He brushed some dirt off his new apprentice robes. The robes were a white, loose fabric that seemed to flow around his body as he walked. The sleeve (his left sleeve had been cut away to reveal his Sigil) and neck were comfortably tight and composed of a silky and brilliantly gold material. They were very beautiful robes.

Kirthin glanced around at the environment he now trekked through. The tall green trees rose high above him and broke into a massive crown of branches that interlaced together, as if the trees all had one root. The sunlight-greedy leaves, a vivid shade of green in the peak of summer, formed a canopy that shielded the bottom regions of the forest. Down were Kirthin was it was cool and damp, the dew dripping off tall ferns (the ferns of Darman were about the same size as an earth sapling) and forest critters skittering all about. A dazzlingly beautiful bird, all cherry red with an amazing gold head plume, chirped a birdsong into the wood. Its unseen partner echoed the call. As Kirthin approached the bird flew off in a flurry of feathers, squawking noisily and disturbing a sleepy chipmunk, who poked his head out of a tree to observe the commotion.

Kirthin loved nature. Ever since he was small, he was fascinated by plants and animals. He even learned from the animals behavior. He learned how to hunt the wild ibex as stealthily and as professionally as the vicious firenza (a fierce animal much like an earth saber-toothed tiger, but smaller and with razor sharp spines along its back). He used the beavers to find the best kind of wood for construction. He watched foragers to find food like berries and roots.

It took Kirthin a bit longer to reach his destination than usual, because he was thinking about Searle. He felt somewhere inside himself that he would see Searle again someday. When, he didn’t know. Where? He didn’t know, either. It seemed that it was totally hopeless, and Kirthin couldn’t help worrying. Searle would finish his training a good six months before he did. The Red Dawn were always being called on for dangerous missions and were to front line of every battle. Their skills were formidable, Kirthin had to admit, but the danger they would go through was second only to the Chieftain’s Royal Guard. Kirthin fidgeted as he journeyed. His worst fear was that he would come back only to find his best friend had died in battle months ago. He felt that, if that happened, it would crush him.

When Kirthin approached the clearing, he found Tenkit sitting cross-legged on the damp ground, his long white beard trailing into his lap. Tenkit’s eyes were closed in meditation as he caused droplets of water to dance around him. Kirthin carefully approached him, trying not to disturb his new mentor.

“You may sit,” Tenkit addressed Kirthin with his eyes still closed, causing Kirthin to jump.

“How did you-?” Kirthin stammered. He was sure he made no noise in arriving!

“When you are as in tune with the elements as I am, they tell you when someone is coming,” Tenkit said, smiling. Kirthin was impressed. His new master must be very strong indeed!

“Actually, I just happen to have good hearing is all,” Tenkit said suddenly.

“Oh,” said Kirthin.

Great. Not only is he strong, he’s now mocking me, KIrthin thought.

“Come now, sit down, boy, sit down,” ordered Tenkit. “Alright, so now that you’ve read up on the types of magic its time to learn-”

“Wait!” Kirthin interrupted. “Types of magic? I-I don’t know this stuff!”

“Really?” Tenkit said, frowning. “I asked that a message was sent to you to read over that!”

“I never received a message. I swear,” Kirthin said.

“Of course you didn’t...” Tenkit grumbled. “Lousy messenger system these days... can’t get anything done...”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to start from scratch, then,” he said. “Let’s begin with the types of magic. There are three basic types, and all other magic branches out from that.”

“The first is elemental magic.” Tenkit raised his hand and a glowing ball of white flame appeared in it. “This is the most basic type of magic. With it you can summon the elements. It is almost useless on its own and has to be combined with another magic, anima, in order to create defensive and offensive spells.” As Tenkit spoke the fire morphed and twisted into different shapes: a dragon, a rose, a shield.

“The next form of magic is anima. It is what some people call telekinesis. It is used to perform attack and defense spells.” The ball of fire stopped morphing and became a solid ball of red flame. Tenkit hurled it at a nearby rock, which exploded with the sound of a thunderclap, showing Kirthin with bits of rock. Tenkit raised his hand again, and the rubble rose into the air and formed a shield of earth in front of Tenkit. “Unfortunately, you only can use anima magic on what you can directly see. You basically manipulate your surroundings to your advantage.” Tenkit let his shield drop ad raised his hand. A large boulder raised from the ground and hovered in the air. He closed his hand, and the rock crumbled into dust.

“The next form of magic is the most difficult. Celestial magic.” Tenkit raised his arm and looked to the sky. “Thiris magia!” he shouted, and a blanket of total darkness suddenly fell around Kirthin. He gasped. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t even feel. He could hear nothing. Suddenly the darkness lifted. Tenkit spoke. “Artificial night. The powers of light and darkness and the heavens themselves. The most difficult and most powerful type of magic.”

“However! Some spells are so complex they require the caster to have either an enchanted stave, a tome of magic, a magic scroll, a book or magic words. These spells are rare but can cause such devastation that they are only allowed by the most skilled of magi. You will not be using these spells until much later.”

Kirthin stood in awe. He was suddenly filled with a yearning to learn magic, like someone had lit an unquenchable flame of desire deep inside him. He wanted to master all the types of magic. He silently made a pact with himself to not rest until he was the greatest sorcerer in Chisst.

Tenkit sent Kirthin back with one task: learn three simple spells and be able to use them for his next lesson. He was given a key to the library of the Academy and to his room. His place was prepared specially for him as the apprentice to the headmaster, and he would have little or no interaction with other students. More time to study. Excellent.

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Sorry about the big infodump! It's the only way I could get it in the story!

So i finally got this done...

"Chapter III: Learning the Ropes" coming soon!