So when I go to Italy in April I land in London first!!!!!!!!!!!! Because the second place I've EVER wanted to go is ENGLAND!!! Though I doubt I'll be leaving the airport at least I'm there!!!
Anyway, moving on.....
Before I get to epicness I'll be on W101 tomorrow leveling up Suri in Krokotopia. Not looking forward to it because... well... it's Krokotopia. Marlybone has been a favorite world of my lately but when you're questing there it can get kinda tiring with all the rats and cats and potbellies (you DO NOT want me going into how much I HATE Potbelly. He just.... he is beyond just irking me).
Mooshu is beautiful. But the solo houses are annoying.
I think I have to say Grizzleheim is my favorite world. It's a lot like where I live in the beginning so I guess it was love at first sight.
;)
Anyway.... so I think
School of Shadow is really going somewhere. But not in the direction of a GWB kind of story. So I'll have to change that.
...
Oh well.
Anyway, Here's parts one and two. I know they're kind if unedited. But I'm am honestly editing them (unlike GWB...... sorry). I'm really happy about it.
Anywho, here we go.
Enjoy!
----------------------------------------
Chapter
One – a dark and stormy night
I
like lemons. It’s a weird fact about me. I absolutely adore
lemons. I could eat them all day. I ate three whole lemons at once
you know. I didn’t get sick either like some people would after
eating half
a lemon.
Nobody understands
though. Neither do I. I would love to though. It’s like the secret
of life. Why does Anjellica love lemons?
Why, that’s me. I’m
Anjellica Silverwillow. And I love lemons. I like other foods too.
Grape fruit, seaweed, Greek bananas (rice rolled up in lettuce, I
have no idea how they got banana from that). I can also hold my
breath longer than anyone (around eight minutes, maybe more), run
longer (marathon, 2.56 hours), and a variety of other things.
I don’t know why I
can do it. The smart tang of lemons doesn’t bother me. The water
pressure on my lungs while underwater isn’t immense. The sweat and
heat of the sun practically cools me down while I run. Why? Is that
not normal? Because that seems to be the only thing people care about
these days.
Being normal.
I mean, I still have
to look after myself. It’s not like I’m some almighty, half
magical, um.... offspring of some, oh I don’t know, great wizard
right? How ridiculous is that? I still pull muscles, get dehydrated,
headaches, chicken pox, I even broke my wrist once.
Some people call me
the “Aerovane.” It’s some sort of instrument that measures wind
and stuff. Like a stick bends up or down to show whether or not a
storm is coming. The reason? It’s like I can.... predict the
weather before it happens.
So, I guess you could
say I’m slightly discriminated. I’m Anjellica the Aerovane,
what’d you expect?
Days drag by slowly.
Like molasses. No, slower. If that’s possible of course. I get to
Monday and I wish it were Friday. School is hard. I’m smart and
all. I catch on quickly but there’s nothing for me at school. Or at
home. Arguing parents. Hospitalized older sister (from a car
accident), strict dad, couldn’t-care-less mom.
I have nothing.
Or, wait. That’s a
lie. I have something. A secret. A secret I haven’t told anyone.
Something all to myself. Something no one can take away from me. Why?
Because it’s part of me. You’d have to kill me I guess to take
it. Even then you couldn’t take it because it’d die with me.
I
call it my Ultraviolet.
Like one of the types of radiation. The more sever type. Only this is
totally harmless.
I can pour water from
my hand.
Sure,
lots of people can cup water into their hand then pour it back out.
Or fill a glass up with water and pour that out. But can you simple
just create
water in
your hand
and then pour it out? Nah, didn’t think so. Pretty sure only I can
do that. Now how epic is that?
But, was it bound to
stay hidden forever? I never imagined my secret getting out. I was
careless, that’s all. I may be smart, I may be able to endure more
than others, but can I still be careless? I’m still human aren’t
I?
Actually, I wonder
about that sometimes...
But that’s besides
the point. The point is that I let my secret slip. And suddenly my
life was upside down, reversed sideways, twisted three times, and
then tied into a knot and is now hanging over a boiling cauldron of
absolute doom.
How nice is that?
It was a day like any
other day. Boring old school. Boring old teachers. Finally the day
was over. It was late October and I decided to walk home. It was only
a mile and a half so I had nothing to worry about. But I waited till
all the buses had left before I started. I wanted to be alone for a
while. Even if it was just for half an hour (slow walking that is).
It was windy but the
sky only held wisps of clouds that glowed a crimson orange in the
setting sun. I always believed sunsets to be spirits waiting to
capture the wish or some poor soul and make it come true. So I made a
wish. I had before and they had never come true, but I still did it
anyway.
I stop walking, close
my eyes for a moment and let my wish flutter in my mind, waiting to
be captured.
‘I
wish I could get away from here.’
It was a simple wish.
I bet lots of teenagers wish it. Well, normal ones anyway. See? I
could be normal sometimes. It’s not like I was eating lemons 24 /
7.
I open my eyes and it
seems to be a lot darker than it was before. The wind had picked up.
The sky suddenly clouded over, the sun hidden. A bleak gray color was
cast over everything. With the sun almost gone it made it even
darker.
I push my flying hair
out of my face and try to figure out how far away from home I was.
Did that street sign say Arrow Avenue? That’s where my house was. I
fight the wind up to the sign. Nope, Narra St, privet drive.
I sigh. I had never
heard of this street before. During my thinking time I must’ve
walked too far. What now? This part of town looked totally wrong. The
grass looked too green. That building, was it made of stone? I squint
but then it seemed like wood again. I turn around. Through blowing
tree branches and my flying hair I make out a pond. There was no pond
for miles in my town. But I blink and it’s gone, replaced by a
stone road.
A dizzy spell wraps
around my head and I close my eyes. This was a bad dream. I must’ve
fallen and hit my head hard. I open my eyes momentarily to see
several stone houses in a row, a light on in one. A house. I should
get help.
I stumble froward. I
don’t notice the road really is stone. That a pond was thrashing
it’s waters behind me. That the grass was way to green and cut too
perfectly to be where I lived.
I grab for the door
and my hand lands against it painfully. I clutch it too my chest and
close my eyes to stop the pounding my brain and hand. I fee light
headed. Terribly dizzy.
With a sigh, I
realize I can’t feel the wind. And soon I can’t feel myself. Then
finally I feel like nothing at all.
***
The
soft heat of a fire is the first thing I feel. Then I realize I’m
much to comfortable to be lying on the ground. I had fainted or
something right? Or, not really. Not like some prissy lady from
Shakespearean times. More like, I would say, I had lost
consciousness.
I begin to lift my head up but my vision goes haywire and I plop it
back down which only makes it worse.
“Ah,
are you awake?” I hear someone ask. A woman, maybe late 20’s by
her voice.
“Am
I?” I ask. “I don’t feel it.” My voice sounds far away. I
still feel dizzy.
“Well,
I should hope so. It would not be good if you died on us. Not sure
why you were out after curfew.”
Not I was more
confused. “I don’t have a curfew.”
“Come
now. All students have a curfew. Twilight it would be for most.
Legendaries
and Transcended
are two before midnight.”
“Transcended?”
“Yes.
Wizards who are level 70.
But I doubt it’ll stay that way for long. So many new worlds are
being discovered that need saving.”
“I’m
not sure I understand,” I say. “Wizards? Level 70? New worlds?”
I pause. “Where am I?”
“Wizard
City my dear. Wizard City.”
I
open my eyes and gasp. I can’t even try to hide it. This whole time
I’ve been talking to
a cow!
The cow lady seems shocked, and slightly offended. “I’m sorry. Do
you not recognize me? Perhaps you’ve hit your head rather hard.”
“I...
I... I’m sorry it’s just... Where I come from cows.... don’t
talk.”
“Where
exactly are you from anyway? I can’t say that I’ve seen you
before.”
“Starraburgh,”
I say.
“Can’t
say I know where that is. Perhaps we should talk to the Headmaster.
Merle Ambrose.” I nod. As long as he wasn’t a cow I think I’m
all good. But, last night. During the storm. The world had been...
changing. The pond. The stone road. The stone houses. The grass. Was
I still dreaming?
I sit up but my
visions swirls badly and I lean back and look at the ceiling.
“Oh
dear. Perhaps he’ll come here. You’re not well enough yet. I’ll
be right back.”
I watch her go out
the door. In the quick glimpse of the outside that I see is strange.
Sunny, such green grass, and a human. Like me. Maybe my age. But
dressed in the craziest Halloween costume I’ve ever seen.
Then the door is shut
and all I see is the wooden design of a leaf with a spiral underneath
it. I look around some more. It looked, normal. Only, not normal at
the same time. There was no TV, or faucet. No carpet (unless you
count the small floor carpet, it was not a wall-to-wall one). The
window was small but it let in a lot of light. There was no ceiling
light, but there were many candles.
Sitting up slowly I
was able to see more. There was a flight of stairs. But instead of an
open hallway, it ended in a door. There was a bookshelf with many
books on it. Several shelves actually. It wasn’t like this was some
alien world. It all looked normal in a way someone here might
decorate it.
I swing my legs over
the side of the couch (as I found out). The floor was not cold. It
seemed to be mid afternoon by thy brightness of the sun. I find I’m
still in my school clothes; jeans and a neon green t-shirt. My shoes
were gone, so were my socks. So was my backpack.
Suddenly the door
opens, startling me, and in walks a very old man with a long write
beard and a monocle who was walking like an Olympic champion, with
the cow lady.
“Ah!
Nice to see you up and about miss,” says the old man. “I am Merle
Ambrose, Headmaster of the Ravenwood Academy of Magical Arts. And
this is Moolinda Wu, Life Professor. Who also healed you. And may I
ask your name...?”
“Anjellica,”
I say. “But I named myself. I don’t like that name all that
much.”
“Last
name?” asks the Headmaster.
“Silverwillow.”
He seems to freeze.
So does the cow, I mean, Moolinda. The wind seems to die, the birds
stop chirping, and a cloud passes over the sky.
It seems to stay like
that forever but then the world seems to move again. Ambrose shakes
his head. “Well, my, ah, dear. How nice to meet you. Anjell–“
“Can
I change it?” I interrupt. “My first name. I don’t like
Anjellica.”
“Well,
um, of course! Moolinda, what do you think?”
Moolinda puts a hoof
to her chin and seems to think. “Well, the name could be...
Iridian? Or perhaps Destiny. Maybe Juliet?”
I shake me head.
Ambrose starts suggesting. “Rowan. Devin. Sarah. Caroline. Emily.
Alura. Victoria. Danielle.”
I shake my head.
While they continue
to list off names I get up and walk over to the bookshelf. I pull
down a purple book and open it up to a random page.
‘Days
were slow and the rain fell all day and all night. I wondered when I
could find the Sorceress who would help me. I needed the help. I had
to save my mom and little sister. From the disease.
‘What
had they said? The northern clan. The Sorceresses name was.... Suri.’
I stop reading. Suri.
I liked that. I turn around to find Moolinda and Ambrose looking at
me intently. “Wind and Rain,” whispers Moolinda. I look at the
cover. ‘Wind and Rain’ was the title. I smile. I did like storms
after all.
“Suri
it shall be then,” says Ambrose happily. “Welcome to Wizard City
Suri!”
“Silverwillow,”
I add. “My name is Suri Silverwillow.” I see Ambrose tense.
Moolinda does too. What was the matter with my last name?
“Perhaps
you should change your last name,” says Moolinda. “Entirely up to
you. You’re a wizard by the looks of it. Wizards always change
their last name when they officially start school.”
“But,
how do you guys know I’m even a wizard?” I contradict.
“Well,
for one you picked up the book ‘Wind and Rain.’ Written by a
Storm Wizard. And you chose the name ‘Suri’ which means ‘rain’
in our ancient language. Last night when you appeared on the doorstep
of this family’s door it was raining. It the fiercest storm I had
ever seen, and I’ve been alive a while. All those facts point to
one fact: you are anything if not destined to be a Diviner.”
“Wait
a minute,” I say. “This isn’t you house? I have to say sorry to
this family! For collapsing on their doorstep like that last night!”
“You’ll
get you chance, don’t worry Suri. Why, here’s Mrs. Duneriver
now!” exclaims Ambrose. A young women comes in carrying a basket of
fruits. She starts when she sees us.
“Oh!
Why hello Headmaster, Moolinda, and...” She gives me the look
grownups give when they’re waiting for you to introduce yourself.
“Suri,”
I say. I decided to leave out my last name since it caused so much
trouble.
“Well,
glade to see you’re feeling better Suri. Me and my husband were
really worried when we heard you knocking. We could barely hear it
over the wind.”
“Well,
thanks for letting me stay. I appreciate it greatly.” I look at her
basket. I spot a lemon. Four actually. “How can I make it up to
you?”
“Oh,
there’s not need really.”
“No,
I’m sure I can do something.” Then it hits me. Lemons + favor
needing to be repaid = me cooking.
I cooked a lot in my
house. Mom was too lazy. Dad was usually out all night. Sister was,
well, eating hospital foods.
“I
can cook something. I cooked a lot at my house with the ingredients I
had available. I made an entire three coarse dinner one.”
“I’m
not sure...”
“I
can bake you a pie,” I suggest. “A lemon one.”
“Well,
I did just get lemons...”
“Do
you have sugar? Eggs? Tarter? If no tarter I can make that too.”
“And
what exactly do those things make?”
I smile. “A lemon
meringue pie.”
***
Two and a half hours
later I was pulling out a lemon meringue pie from the stone oven.
Delina, who insisted ‘Mrs. Duneriver’ was far to formal, had to
teach me how to use many things. Like water had to be taken from the
pond outside and boiled to be cleansed. The ‘fridge’ was a low
cellar where, though it was at least 90 degrees outside, it was
probably 15 degrees to keep things cool.
Delina said it would
be easier to get fresh water, already hot or just plain cold, if
there was a Diviner in the family. Or to keep the cold cellar cloder
is they had a Thaumaturge.
Delina and David (her
husband) were both Pyromancers, Fire Wizards. Their daughter Cathrine
was a Theurgist, a Life Wizard.
Ambrose had said to
me to come by his office the next afternoon to decide what kind off
Wizard I would be.
Meanwhile Delina took
me shopping. I saw more people in the crazy costumes, but I finally
decided that this was normal. Everything I thought weird was normal.
Everything I thought normal was weird. Which was why they had
destroyed my cell phone in my backpack because they thought it was
dangerous.
Of course, it wasn’t
like I had service here anyways.
I ended up with a
Beginners Robe, Hate, and Boots. With a base color of black and a
trim of dark blue. Then I walked back to Delia’s home in the
Commons.
I also made dinner,
seasoned beef, tender to the touch, basted in garlic sauce with a
side of lemon sprig (a salad, consisting mostly of lemon zest,
lettuce, shredded carrots with a lemon based dressing).
Delina finally asked
me why I liked lemons so much.
“I
don’t know,” I respond while shredding the lemon rind into lemon
zest. “Other people can barely eat a slice yet I can eat a whole
one at every meal.”
“It
must be unhealthy in some way.”
I shrug. “I don’t
know. I’ve never gotten sick, my teeth never rotted, or lost that
stuff that’s on your teeth. “
“Enamel,”
corrects Delina.
“Yeah,
that,”
I say. We both laugh.
Mr. Duneriver (or,
David) and Cathrine got home just in time for dinner. Like Ambrose
had said that children of wizards had different last names, Cathrine
was not Cathrine Duneriver but Cathrine Soulmender.
Delina had said her
maiden name was Dreamflame, but she when she married David she could
either keep her name, or change it to Duneriver, and she had changed
it.
Soon the next day was
here. Delina ushered me to the Headmaster’s Tower. I went in alone.
No one else was in there but me and the Headmaster.
He says nothing, only
holds out a thick book that looks like it has been here since the
beginning of time. I look up at him and he nods. I open the book and
view a multiple choice questions.
What
is you favorite time of day?
Morning.
Noon.
Night.
I think. Well, lemons
like sun. I point to ‘noon.’ All other words fade from the page,
leaving only the word ‘noon’ there. I flip the page.
What
is you favorite animal?
Dragon.
Unicorn.
Polar
bear.
Serpent.
Scorpion.
I tap ‘dragon.’
Once again, all other words fade and I flip the page again. I answer
quite a few of these questions. Around nine or ten. Finally I come to
a very hard question.
What
is your favorite gem stone?
Ruby.
Onyx.
Amethyst.
Peridot.
Well, I was at a
conundrum. I love amethyst’s. Their purple is so shiny and
beautiful. Yet a peridot is yellow! The lovely color of delicious
lemons!
Sighing, I decided
that I shouldn’t let lemons rule my life. I touch ‘amethyst’
and the words fade. But before I can flip the page, more words
appear. I begin to read:
You
have chosen the School of Storm
Storm
Magic is all about creativity. It represents the flash of insight, or
the spark of inspiration that makes you yell, “Eureka!” It is
known that the pleasure of catching lightning in a bottle is
likewise. Wizards who often embrace the School of Storm, known as
Diviners, are driven by the: investigation and discovery, the joys of
invention and ingenuity, and the power of creating and building. The
drawback to such pursuits is the tendency to get lost in the maze of
thoughts and being paralyzed to make a decision. Diviners use Verses
to charm, enthrall, and hypnotize creatures to help them
Wow, that was a lot
to read. And slightly dizzying when the letters keep shifting. The
whole page seemed to blur and pulse and de-fragment. I try to focus
on the words but they keep changing.
I look up at the
Headmaster. He looks down at the page. “School of Storm! I knew
that would be it.”
But as I looked back
down on the page it no longer said ‘School of Storm.’ At least I
don’t think it did. As I squinted at the mixed up letters I was
able to put things together. As if I were reading a foreign language.
And it definitely no longer read ‘School of Storm.’
Again, I read.
You
have been accepted into the School of Shadow
Shadow
is not a common type of magic. In fact, one could argue it isn’t a
magic at all. Instead of using spells and summoning creatures to
attack monsters, Shadow Wizards, also known as the Abiit, learn the
ways of the wild. They memorize the way a monster attacks. It’s
weaknesses. An Abiit also learns the ways of others around them, the
weather, and all over knowledge of the Spiral. Abiit are very rare
and are not wizards you see on the street every day. With powerful,
deadly magic, Shadow Wizards learn to turn invisible and to control
the way the mind thinks.
What was this? School
of Shadow? Abiit? What was this nonsense?
“What’s
the School of Shadow?” I ask the Headmaster.
I was expecting him
to freeze, like when he had heard my name. But he only gives me a
confused look. “There is no such thing as the School of Shadow.”
I look back at the
book. ‘You have chosen the School of Storm’ was what it read
again.
Though I was in a new
world, and probably never going back to mine, and I don’t want to
anyway, I couldn’t help but wonder if me seeing something the
Headmaster couldn’t see was considered slightly odd.
It would be the first
thing since I had gotten here.
Chapter
Two – the meaning of wind and rain
The Duneriver’s
took me in like a second child. It was crazy how they treated me like
I had been their second daughter their whole life.
Though Cathrine was
level 22, she stayed back to help me quest in Wizard City. I don’t
know why. I had a whole five years on her (she was ten), but I
suppose she just liked boasting that she knew more than I did.
Eventually I made it
to level 15 as a Diviner. Storm School was lots of fun. We learned so
much every day. I chose Life as my second school when I learned that
Storm Wizards had really low health.
But something kept
nagging at the back of my brain. What I had read the second day I had
come here. When School of Storm had changed to School of Shadow.
Finally, frustrated
beyond belief, I went to the library.
The Marlybonian
librarian sent me to the way back-back of the library where school
history could be found. I began my search at the first bookshelf and
worked my way down.
School of Balance.
School of Death. School of Fire. School of Ice. School of Life.
School of Myth. And finally, School of Storm. Then the rows of
shelves ended at a wall. How convinent.
Slightly exasperated
I picked a random book of the School of Storm shelf. I might as well
learn something seeing as I barely knew anything.
Wind
and Rain
Chapter One
‘Storm
Wizards are diligent and creative students. Excelling in inventing
new things and find ways around common life, they learn to bend the
rules of magic.’
That was the first
thing I ever learned about my school. And since then I’ve worked as
hard as I could to live up to it. It was all for my parents though.
To please them. And I did. But at the same time I wasn’t pleasing
myself. I felt like I was missing something. The true meaning of
those sentences.
Intrigued
by the book, I sat down, leaning against the shelves of books and
read Wind
and Rain.
It was a very good book. I learned basic facts of Storm Wizards
through the eyes of the main character, Alia Moonshade, as she began
a quest to find the meaning of Storm. Suddenly I come to a part I
know all too well.
Chapter
Seventeen
Days
were slow and the rain fell all day and all night. I wondered when I
could find the Sorceress who would help me. I needed the help. I had
to save my mom and little sister. From the disease.
What had they
said? The northern clan. The Sorceresses name was.... Suri.
Up till now Alia had
been relying on her own power. But she knew she needed help. She
needed to gain allies to win the war she had accidentally started.
Who the antagonist was is still a mystery though. But I’m sure
they’ll tell you at the end of the book.
I continued reading
the story. Captivated by the descriptive language and intense
conflict. And soon I was at the climatic chapter.
Chapter
Thirty-three
I walked slowly
through the dark cavern. But soon my eyes adjusted and I knew I
wasn’t far now. A soft glowing green vein appeared on the wall to
my left. Dim at first, but growing brighter as I walked on.
And soon I was in
His cavern.
I couldn’t see
him but with the ethereal orb Suri gave me I felt confidence pushing
aside my fear and hesitancy. I grip it tighter and look around. Then
I hear the voice. A voice so smooth and silky you wouldn’t think
that when taken away He sounded like a cow in a sandstorm.
“So,
my dear. You have found me? I was beginning to worry you weren’t
gonna make it. Pity that would be. I was looking forward to–”
“Can
it Monalyth. Yes, I know your real name. And I am not here to
monologue.”
“Alia
is it? Well Alia, I can tell you really have no idea what my real
name is. And all that rubbish that sorceress Suri has fed you is, to
put it simply, false.”
“Then
what is your real name?”
I could hear him
growl happily, which must mean he’s grinning. I shudder. A creature
of such despicable evil shouldn’t be allowed of such emotions.
“The
‘use my name against me’ tale is wrong so I guess there is no
harm in telling you my real name. Oh how I wish it were something
more evil sounding.”
“Spit
it out!” I snap, running low on patience.
“Oh
very well.” He pauses, as if trying to make the moment dramatic.
“Silverwillow. My true name is Silverwillow.”
The book drops from
my hands in shock. Did the author just name a creature of pure evil
after my last name? No, this book has been written before then. Is
that why the Headmaster had been startled by my last name? Because it
was the same as some creature in a book?
No, it had to have
more than that. He had looked as if he had just seen the sun go out.
Scared. Terrified is more like it. Wondering what was coming next.
Like I had spoken ‘Voldemort’ and now a bunch of Death Eaters
were coming to kill everyone.
Not even thinking
about the end of the book now I shove it back randomly on the shelf
and dash to the front of the library. No one else was around so I
felt safe to ask Harold my dying question.
“Excuse
me?” I say.
He looks up from the
book in his hands. “Why hello Suri. Didn’t know you were still
here. How can I help you?”
“I
have a question. In the book I just read, the evil of all evils was
some dude named Silverwillow. And that name has turned up somewhere
else. I was wondering if you could tell me what it is.”
Harold looked scared.
He glanced at the door. Then back to me. “I’ll have to quick.
We’re not allowed to talk about Athol Silverwillow.”
“Athol?”
I say. I hadn’t know he had a first name.
“Yes.
Athol was a top student in Ravenwood. Very bright. Intelligent,
diligent, creative, and a flirt no less.” He snickers to himself.
“Well, one day he went missing. Gone from the face of the Spiral.
We looked everywhere for him you see. His family was very rich and
had a lot of influence on many. However we weren’t able to find
him.”
“That’s
too bad.”
“It’s
not. You see, he turned up three months later. He came back. He was a
sight though. Probably making sore eyes even more sore. He was
scruffy, dirty. Cloths torn, wand, spell deck, gone. So bruised up
and broken and famished he looked about ready to die.”
“Was
his family happy to see him?”
“Over
joyed. But something had certainty changed.”
“What
had?”
“We’re
not sure, even today. But after he got back he seemed afraid of
people. Less social. He spent days in his room, muttering to himself.
Sometimes screaming. He was crazy, that’s what I say.”
“And
then what?”
“Well,
he shocked us all. I was there the day he barged into Ambrose’s
Tower saying he was dropping out of school. He said he had found a
better academy, a more advanced one for only the best.”
“What
school was that?”
“He
didn’t say. But then he vanished.”
“Like...
turned invisible?”
“Must
have. Like he had melted into the background. The door opened, shut
again, and he was gone. But it wasn’t the last we had seen of him.”
“What
do you mean?”
“Disasters
started happening all over the Spiral. Catastrophes that happened in
the blink of an eye. It’s called the Era of Darkness. First houses
burning. Then famine. And then the plague.” Harold sighed. A deep,
sad, sigh. “It was what Sylvia, the last Life Professor before
Moolinda, died from. And that was when her husband, Malistaire,
ripped the Death School from Ravenwood and vanished like Athol had.”
“Then
what?” I ask when Harold said no more.
“Then
the Era of Darkness ended. No more fires. No more famine. No more
plague. Yet at the same time no more Malistaire, no more Death
School, and no more Sylvia.”
I nod, thinking. “Is
that why ‘Silverwillow’ inflicts so much fear? Because Athol was
so evil and caused so much pain?”
Harold nodded. “Yes.
Now, you mustn’t tell anyone I’ve told you. It’s supposed to be
secret information.”
I nod. “I won’t
tell anyone. Thanks for telling me though.”
“You’re
welcome. Now you’d best be going home. It’s almost curfew.”
I thank him one last
time then head out. The brisk autumn air nipped at my exposed arms
but I didn’t notice. All I could think about was what connection
could Athol have to my last name. Other than having the same last
name.
Deep in thought I had
no chance of seeing the wizard riding crazily on an out of control
Pegasus mount until they barreled right into me.
Knocked to the ground
painfully with the wind knocked out of me, it took me a moment to
realize I was being helped into a sitting position, all the while be
told ‘sorry, sorry, sorry.’
“I’m
so sorry! Max just isn’t used to a rider yet. I’m so sorry! I was
speeding anyway. Trying to get home before Curfew. Sorry! I should’ve
yelled something sooner.”
“Yeah,
yeah, yeah, I get it thanks,” I say, just to shush him. He stops
talking.
“You
okay?” he finally asks.
I nod. “Yeah.
Besides, I wasn’t looking where I was going anyways.”
Once I was standing
the wizard, who was around my age, held out a hand has said, “My
name’s Alric Flame.”
Before I could
introduce myself, however, another wizard, a girl, also my age, and
who suspiciously looked just like Alric, came running up to him and
started boxing his ears.
“I
told you Alric! You were supposed to be home an hour ago! Is that a
Pegasus mount!? Mom said you weren’t supposed to be buying one
until next week! Why did you buy one!?”
Alric just looked
really bummed out but he had such a funny expression I had to hold
back a laugh. Suddenly the girl looks up, spots me, and throws Alric
down like a pillow.
“Hello
there! I’m Iridian Mistcloud. This idiots sister whom I’ve been
stuck with since birth because he is my unfortunate twin brother. Who
are you?”
“Suri,”
I say. Then think quickly to come up with a last name other than
Silverwillow. “Rain.”
“Suri
Rain you say? How come you’re so old yet you’re only... what?
Level 15?”
“Well,
I mysteriously appeared here about a month ago. I know that may sound
crazy and far fetched so it’s alright if you don’t believe me.”
“Hmm.
Well that’s interesting. Where are you staying now?”
“With
the Duneriver’s.” I point to their house a few houses away.
“Well
that’s nice. Delina is really nice. Though Catherine can be a
little stuck up sometimes.” I nod my agreement. By now Alric had
hulled himself up off the ground and was cowering from his sister.
Suddenly Iridian
stared off into space for a moment then said, “I gotta go meet a
friend in the Shopping District before Curfew. See ya later Suri!”
Then she ran off to the tunnel to the Shopping District.
“Why
doesn’t she teleport?” I ask Alric. He rubs his neck. “Well, I
really shouldn’t tell you. Iridian will kill me.”
“Then
you don’t after to,” I say. “She seems to beat you up enough.”
“No,
it’s not that bad. I let her do it because if she doesn’t her
life would be heckhounds.”
“What’d
you mean?”
“She’s
not a wizard.”
I gasp. “But how?”
Alric looks down.
“She’s older than me by four minutes. I wasn’t breathing when I
was born. Everyone thought I was dead. And I was dead.”
“Then
how are you alive?” I ask.
“Because
as a baby, of now more than five minutes old, Iridian gave me all her
magic. It was like some sort of force possessed her to grab my hand,
and suddenly I was alive, and she wasn’t a wizard anymore. She
would’ve been wicked powerful if she had kept her magic. But she
gave it to me so I could live.”
“But
that’s so loving!”
“And
sad. She’s what other’s may call a Decyon, meaning impure and
hostile. Wizards are called Halcyon, calm, peaceful, pure. It’s
kind of an insult to call someone a Decyon. So when someone calls her
that she beats them up. She’s super strong too. And fast. Probably
faster than Max.” He pats the Pegasus affectionately.
“That’s
too bad,” I say sympathetically.
“By
the way, what school are you in?”
“Storm,”
I say simply. “You?”
“Myth.
So you’re my weakness!”
I smile. “Guess I
am.”
Suddenly the large
brass bell rings, signaling Curfew. Alric and me part ways with a
wave and I run over to the house that I now consider my new home.
All thoughts of
Silverwillow escaping my head.
----------------------------------------
I know you guys read part of chapter one. Up to the part where she was taking the test. Because I hadn't finished much of it yet.
I'm almost done with chapter three so I guess you guys can read that soon.
Anyway, this I'll go and work on that now. I got a good plot going so I can't let these idea get away.
:)
Fellow writers know how that feels.
Laterz!
~Emma
P.S.
SUPER PROUD of that header. Best thing I've ever done. I'm like freaking out. YAY!!!!
