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Fifth Writing – The Wizard

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The next day I woke up before Lynn. I saw her smiling peacefully in her sleep and wondered if she might have a good dream. I checked the area out with my magic and my thoughts flew through the ground. And then, far away closer to the River of Fallen was a large group. I felt weak signs of magic unrevealing their place, yet a strong kind of magic also hid the place. Phoenix must have been able to leave a trail for me, and maybe for his sister as well. We had no time to lose.

Within a second I packed all my stuff and rushed towards Lynn’s side. I nearly didn’t want to wake her because she was so peaceful, but I knew I had no choice.

“Lynn! Lynn, wake up! I found them.” I touched Lynn’s shoulders and shook her a bit, trying to wake her up. But she didn’t move at all. It was like she didn’t hear me. But how? Last night she was fine, and now she seemed dead.

I was shocked. I had to choose. Leave her behind and find her body eaten alive by the animals of the forest, of letting go of my only chance to save Elda and Phoenix. There was no way out. There was no way back either.

“I’m sorry Lynn…”

She would never forgive me if I didn’t try to save her brother. And I needed her help. There was no way back, so it was time to test the limits of my magic. I concentrated and a green aura appeared around me. Then I picked up Lynn’s senses of magic and mixed them with mine. I had no clue if this would work or not, but I would take my chances.

When I thought my mind would collapse a tree grew right under Lynn. It her into the sky and made her a bed of leaves. I knew she’s be save there. Then I left her a note carved on the tree. Something she couldn’t miss out on. I was really starting to worry about her. Why didn’t she wake up, why couldn’t she hear me. It was a pain, yet I was grateful she was still breathing, because without her breath she would have been done for.

After I secured Lynn was alright I made my move. It was no use to hide now, I had to be fast. I grabbed my bow and swung it over my back as I did the same with my bag. I checked if my sword was attached in the right way and started running.

“One, two. One two. One two.” At first I said it out loud, but then it became a voice in my head keeping me fast, even when I didn’t want to anymore. There was no other way. I had to save them or at least try.

As I went down the hill and tried to reach the river I saw smoke. That must have been it. That should be the place I was looking for. The place Elda and Phoenix where. Then all of a sudden there were burn marks on the ground. They were so small but I noticed the pain of the grass. I stopped and read what they said.

‘Dear Nature Wizard. Don’t come closer. We’re surrounded by an unknown magic source. Something from the Order, I’m sure. Please look for the Water Wizard. She is in great danger. If they find her, they can control me as she drunk from a poisoned pool.’

I knew there was something wrong with Lynn. Another Wizard to avenge, another one hurt, caused by the order. I wonder if they knew about me or not. This message was meant to warn me, to let me save myself, but as I already found Lynn, nothing was stopping me from rescuing Elda and Phoenix. I owed her that. Lynn needed her brother, and I needed my mother back.

It was useless to use magic and screen the camp. The warning from the Fire Wizard had been clear. There was someone with magic in the camp! Someone working for The Order. But who would it be? Which Wizard was so far gone he’d help the order to destroy all of its kind? I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. But I had no choice. I had to save Elda and Phoenix. And without magic.

As the sun slowly set I made up a plan. I would scout today. Get to know the soldiers in the camp. And after that, I would break through. Kill their guards and sneak into the big tent. Just saying it like that made it sound easy. But I knew better than calling this job easy. This was going to be a job on life and death. A battle I couldn’t forsake to lose.

Then I also had to found out what poisoned Lynn. I couldn’t leave her to het fate. I had to save her as well. This is what made my plan even more complicated. I just hoped Phoenix would be able to tell me more about it. He was my only hope. I didn’t want to think of the horrors that could occur if not… They would pay for what they did to my friends. Trial Wizard or not, they’d pay!

I followed the smoke and ended up crawling through the mud. There might be guards around the camp as well. I had to use the forest as my hiding place. My home. Luckily I was used to this. As I came closer and closer to the camp I noticed a small tree with berries in it. It seemed to be my lucky day! Wild strawberries were my favourite. I made a stop to save some for later. The two of them would be grateful for some food. I just knew it.

After a while I reached the camp. I climbed into one of the higher trees till I had a nice lookout spot. There was nothing unusual in the camp, since I last visited it. Yet it felt different, as if someone was indeed hiding it. As I covered my body in the tree I felt home. This was my life, this was my tree, this what was nature power was truly like.

I looked at the camp. The tents where still in the same spot, but the only difference was that one of them was well guarded. I didn’t notice that before. It would probably be the tent both Elda and Phoenix are hold in. But I wasn’t sure. I had to check that out later. Maybe they would come out but I doubt it.

When it fully turned dark I relied on my surroundings. What all could the trees tell me? What all did I need to know to enter the camp? The trees where angry. Man cut bushes and twigs for place for the tents and fire.

I gathered enough information about the camp and thanked the forest. It was time for me to slumber as well. It was time for me to come to action and rescue their prisoners. Time to pay The Order back!

Fourth Writing – The Wizard

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The green hills greeted me with a breeze through my hair. My hair, partly green, displayed my mood. It had been as black as the night sky when I first met Elda, but now it had a more natural colour. The green always appeared whenever I hiked through a forest, because it was my home. There was nothing wrong with it. I loved the colour green. It had always been my favourite. Especially the one from the leaves in spring.

I followed the river steam as I climbed up the hills. It had been a while since I last saw the them. When I did they were grey and dark and it was my first time ever seeing the snow. It was the winter I first spent at Elda and Master Kenjio. The good old times. A tear ran over my face as I stared at the stream. It had a calming effect on me.

Out of my bag came a zooming noise. I turned my bag around and realised the noise came from the Bottle of Life. Was it trying to tell me something? Or did it enjoy the water as much as I did? I didn’t know. But going from the worst, I swung my bow from my back as I used it as a walking stick. Nobody would suspect it was a bow, because you could only see it as bow when you were close by. And then it would already be too late. I could swing it and fight with it nearly as good as with my sword. But it was an easier way to hide a weapon, so I dealt with it.

The zooming noise became louder and louder and when I reached the top of the hill I was wanting to chant a spell to locate the zooming noise, but I couldn’t. Instead I saw a hiker from a distance. She was heading towards me so I decided to greet her. When our paths crossed I was surprised, but before I could say a single thing, she started to talk.

“So it must be, Warrior of Faith, that we meet again.”

I nodded. Of course. It had to be the Water Wizard. That was the reason the Bottle of Life made that noise, because her master was near. I should have known. The link was so obvious that I just forgot.

“Yes, Water Wizard. It’s been a while. May I ask? What brings you here to Nobody’s land?” I gazed at her. She had not changed a single bit since the time I met her. Her hair was azure blue and braided together in different directions. It made me think of the sea. Her skin was just as pale as ever and she nearly vanished in the sun. Her dress was the only thing that was different. Instead of the blue one she wore during our first meeting, it was now dark red, letting her face look even paler than before.

“I’ve been on my way to search a friend. He was captured a while ago. You haven’t seen a large group of soldier by any chance, Warrior of Faith? They’ve put a sleeping spell over us, and when I woke up, I was alone. Yet the water told me what happened.”

“Thinking of it, I have.” I was in a battle with myself. Should I, or should I not reveal I was a Wizard as well? In tough times it was needed to group together and stay strong. After all, there were only that less wizards. I didn’t even know which ones were alive, and which ones were dead.

“Can you tell where they went? It is crucial I find my friend.” The water Wizard spoke with a demanding tone, and I was quite sure that her friend might be the fire mage.

“Actually, I’ve seen them. I hid in the trees when they came, since I was suspicious of what the forest told me. There was a large group of armed soldiers. They were from the Order. Among them there were two prisoners, Elda my foster mother..” I sighed. Just thinking of her already made me sad. I continued to speak as a tear rolled down my face. “And there was a young man. He looked very pale. As if he was suffocating in the air. The forest did him no good. Even his aura was weak, he seemed barely alive. Yet of his young age, he had a full grown ginger beard, and half long ashen white hair.”

The face of the Water Wizard turned from surprised to unbelievable to angry. I think she realised I was a Wizard as well, and not just a Wizard, but one with good connections. I feared for the worsts. But I didn’t really have a choice, I needed help to save Elda, and if the Water Wizard would be able to help me so I could see her again, I would even tell the world I was a Wizard.

“You… You are a Wizard! Where is your aura? Where’s your scent?! And if you know Elda… How come, that you don’t know her companion. He’s the Fire Wizard! She called for his and my help to avenge her husband, and we decided to help her out. But she never mentioned having a daughter. Not even in the years that I knew her. All she ever mentioned was how much she wanted them. How frustrating it was, that she couldn’t have them.”

I knew I had some explaining to do. So I told her everything. How I met Elda, how I took her in, and when I last saw her. But I left out the part of my sister. I wasn’t ready to speak about that yet. That was something I would only tell if there was no hope left. If there was nobody with a plan. But for now, gathering all the Wizards seemed like a good idea.

“I see.” The Water Wizard spoke to me. “So you’re the one who can stop this madness. We have no time to lose then, don’t we. There is no other option to go out and save Elda and Phoenix. My name is Lynn.”

I was surprised Lynn’s mood changed back to her calm and peaceful nature within a second. I certainly didn’t expect that. “Come, we have no time to waste.” I lead the way and together we followed the soldiers, hoping a chance would come sooner or later to kidnap our friends back.

Me and Lynn travelled till the evening fell. After that I prepared dinner by using nature magic. I was glad I had an element to return to, as I didn’t know what the Trial Wizard would have for powers, yet they would be both dark and light. That’s everything I ever read about it. There was barely information known about Trial Wizards, and as far as I was concerned I was the first one in history.

“Lynn? How did you ever meet Phoenix? I mean, you two are water and fire, and yet you seem to care so much about him.”

“That’s a long story Kiera. It all begins when I was younger. I was an outcast since I was pulled towards the water ever since I was young. Even my parents saw it. As soon as I was born I had this azure blue hair colour, and that is why my parents called me Lynn, as it means Waterfall. Within my first seven years alive I showed signs of magic and it was soon to be known that I was indeed the Water Wizard. This left me with no friends. Everyone in my village thought Wizards were dangerous and magic was something they rather left alone. Till one day, during my fifteenth spring, a boy showed up. He looked like he just walked through a fire, and I felt pity for him. The villagers laughed at him and also ad me, when I took him by the hand and showed him the way to my home.

At first, he was just staring into the fire, and not talking at all. I knew I had to help him, but I didn’t know how. After all, water was known for their healing properties. So I sat down next to him and wanted to push my hands in the fire so I could practise healing my own hands. Except the fire never touched me. No matter how hard I tried, the flames danced around me and dodged my hands. It took me a few days, but then I realised the boy was playing with the flames. He was like me.

I never thought I would meet a fellow Wizard, so that’s when I really took an interest in him. I always felt he was special, but nowadays I understand that this was just his aura I felt. I tried for weeks to talk to him, but he never said a word. Till I approached him differently. I took a cup of water and played with it. Just as he had done with the fire. I let the water dance and embrace my hands and then I tried touching him with my hand covered in water, and he let me. This for me was a perfect opportunity to heal his skin. He was surprised at first, but later on he thanked me. But he started talking to me. When I asked for his name, he said he didn’t have one, so I simply called him Phoenix. Just like the firebirds he made in the fire.

Phoenix came to live with me and my mum. He saw me as an older sister, and he didn’t know much of his real family. I mean, he was only nine years old when I found him. Then the horrible day came, my mother died. He was so full of rage, anger and sadness, nobody could stop him. His fire destroyed nearly half the town before I managed to calm him down. I had to battle with all my might, and it left marks all over my bodies. I was burned so badly I couldn’t even heal myself. But what I did that day made him fully trust me. I embraced him even though his body was surrounded by fire. I could touch him because I had the water on my side.

When he calmed down, the elders forced us to leave the village. I was heartbroken, but I had to move on. For Phoenix. I couldn’t leave him on his own. So the two of us started traveling. During one of our travels we ran into Elda and she showed him how to control his fire magic. I was just like sword fighting she said. Fire is one of the Dark magics, fuelled by anger and other strong emotions. She showed him how wonderful fire could be, and what his magic was good for. To me, she explained why it was impossible to stay anywhere close. She even then already knew that an organisation was chasing for Wizards and she wanted to protect us.

That was ten years ago. I lost touch with Elda. I couldn’t find her again, yet we spent nearly a year with her. Till a few months ago. Me and Phoenix said to help her without even knowing what it was about. Because she gave us so much. We just wanted to do something back.” She turned her head towards me and sighed. “How did you find them anyway?”

And then I started. I wasn’t really willing to share my abilities with anyone, but I knew I had no choice. I told her about the Spirit Nim, and how nobody ever knew I was a Wizard. I liked being able to study in peace, to later become a Wizard teacher. Except the fact that wasn’t true. I was able to study because of my sister, but Lynn didn’t need to know that. All she had to know was that I knew what I was doing. And then I told her of my time alone, that I only accidently ran into the group from the Order, but that I needed to check them out.

“Yet, I don’t know how long I passed out, after finding them. I don’t know how far away we are from them, I just hope we’re not too late saving them. I’m starting to believe we need a miracle to catch up.”

“Don’t worry Keira we will get there. We’ll avenge what they are doing to Phoenix and Elda right now. They will suffer for what they did to our family members.” Lynn’s face was full of anger all of a sudden. The once so peaceful Water Wizard made a statement that shouldn’t thought of lightly. I knew she meant it, and there was no way going back now.

As the night came we ate our food and got ourselves ready for the night. We created a small fire to keep us warm and I asked the grass to warn me if any type of animals or humans would try to approach us. It wasn’t the best security, but the two of us needed our sleep.

Third Writing – The Wizard

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It was dark when I finally woke up. I didn’t know how long I’d been out, or what time of the day it was. It seemed night, but was it really night, or was that just an illusion in the forest? I opened my mind as I made contact with the forest. Could this really be my lucky day?

I felt the forest calmed down. Something must have had a calming reaction on it. But what? Was it a natural reaction? Or was it a reaction that it was relieved that somebody had left? I stood up as I realised it. The soldiers were gone. The camp used to be close to the tree I was hiding in, but now there was nothing left. It looked as it was abandoned in a rush though.

The order usually cleaned their camping spaces really well. Nobody would be able to see the fact someone camped there. But now… Something must have caught them off guard. What was it? Or rather who? Could it be that someone felt me? That they had a wizard or wizard’s child working for them? I shivered by the thought. I rather hoped not. That would mean I couldn’t rely on my magic to save the two of them. The unknown wizard and Elda, Master Kenjio’s wife.

I thanked the trees as I grabbed my belongings, their branches slowly becoming branches again, and the leaves returning to them. It was time for me to get moving. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and adjusted the sheath to my right hip. I had to be ready to fight any time, and as I learnt how to fight with left first, since of an old injury, I was best with it. I pulled the bow and the tube with the magical arrows over my bag. I would never know when I needed them.

The sun slowly began to rise as I left the forest behind me. I’d come a long way, and I was supposed to go even further to reach my goal. But first, first I had to set up a rescue. It was time to save Elda and the unknown wizard. My mind pondered.

Elda… She replaced my mother when I arrived at their place. She took me in, without knowing anything of me, because she was the terror in my eyes. I came across her in a small village where I tried to get some food. It was no use though, I looked like a nomad, my clothes partly broken with loose ends, and my face full of mud. I had no money left and I was on the edge of starving. Elda originally came to the village to pick up some goods, but when she saw me her eyes flickered. She sensed something familiar, but at the same time not. Only now I realised she must have felt a small trace of magic my sister left me for protection. It was something I couldn’t get rid of no matter what I tried. A sort of wizard’s touch, you could say.

That time, I realised she was me, so I tried to hide but it was no use. She followed me to the forest, and even trying to hide in it didn’t work. I was too exhausted to get in touch with it. I couldn’t use my magic anymore. Elda carefully approached me as she tried to make me feel comfortable. I can still feel her arms as she wrapped them around me when she came closer to me. It was exactly what I needed at that time. It had only been three weeks since my birthday, and it was getting colder. Without knowing what to do, but feeling her warmth, her kindness, I started crying. Everything I’d been holding in came out.  All the pain, and sorrow from losing my sister, losing my little brother, even the fact my parents were gone. I screamed, I yelled but she didn’t give up. She held me till the very end.

Elda took me to the inn she was staying in and ordered a hot bad tube and warm food for me. I didn’t know what to do. How could this lady be so nice to me, while she didn’t even know me. When did I earn this. Why was she looking after me, while I had nothing to offer her. I was just an infant without a goal. Some sort of nomad who barely had clothes left.

At first I was really scared and didn’t know what to do. Elda kept me close as she tried to win my trust. It took her months. When the snow started to fall, she finally got me talking to her. And as we approached her home town a man approached us. He had a long sword in his right hand, and a fierce look on his face. His body build was muscular, but at the same time he was a bit fat. His grey hair waved in the wind. It reached till his shoulders, and it was braided in a warrior style. I assumed he must have been a great swordfighter, since not many survived.

When I looked back to Elda to hide behind her, I saw her gaze at the man. Following her eye sight I saw the expression of the man change. As if a light shined upon him. If he owned the brightest diamond in the whole universe. Who was he? And why did he look to Elda like that.

I shut down again at that point. I refused to talk. I didn’t know what to do. But the man took me in his house without arguing. He let me stare at him as long as I wanted, pretending that he didn’t notice. And Elda. Elda was great. She put all her work aside and put all effort in me. I trusted her. But did I trust her enough to tell the horror?

I slowly started to say small things. I followed her around in the house as she did her chores and followed her when she was practising with her bow. I was interested. I wanted to learn as well. And one time in the spring, I had the courage to stand up and ask her to teach me. That was my first step back to reality. The bow became a part of me. It protected me and I protected the bow. And with that, my confidence started to grow back. The training with the bow made me stronger, physically and mentally. I realised I had a long way to go. But I did it.

When I was confident enough, I sometimes spoke to the man in the house. I didn’t know anything of him, except that Elda loved him more than anything in the world. They didn’t have children, even though she loved them. It was a shame. But she had me now. And I had her. A person who cared about me. Yet I had not forgotten my own mother. But it was too painful to talk about.

The man told me stories about a war long ago. A war in which he was the advisor and second in command from the King of the Highlands. But that was long in the past. He left the war to marry Elda, the love of his life. Far up north, the war was still going on. It was one of the unending wars in the world. But soldiers wouldn’t kill. It was to remain practised. In reality the King of the Highlands and the Queen of the Mountains were great friends. Or actually, they were way more than that. They’d been in an argument where to marry for over years. They decided the battle would be symbolic for their marriage. And that soldiers would always fight each other, so they would become blood brothers in battle and name.

I loved these stories. I learnt about the King and Queen, and how they eventually married each other. It occurred thousands of years ago, but because of this, the Highlands, as what was the name of the country became after the marriage, lived in peace. The war went on. And everyone had to fight in it. Man and woman, didn’t matter. It was a tradition. An honour. And for that, everyone lived in peace. The sons and daughters of the King and Queen fought as well. And as their skills became better, they eventually met their love on the battlefield. Their offspring still ruled parts of the country, but the first in line always ended up being Queen or King, as the rules said.

When the legend, or the so called story ended one time and all the stories about the war were over it was summer. The heat shone upon us as the two of us looked up at the stars. It was then, when I finally spoke up to him and started asking questions. “Who are you? Why are you living here? Where do you go every day? What do you do?”

The man was patient and spoke. “Who I am, youngling? I am the last descendant from the King and Queen out the story. Their blood flows through my veins. My older brother is the current king of the Highlands, and I used to be his advisor. I was the one who made sure the battlefield stayed a playground. It was just a honour to fight there after all. There wasn’t supposed to flow blood. As advisor I travelled through the land. I was undercover, and let my brother know how his land was doing.

On one of my travels I came across a young lady. The most beautiful lady I’ve ever seen. But she was out of my reach. After all her father didn’t know who I was. And she was promised to another man, but as soon as she looked at me, she loved me. It was love on first sight. Not something, but amazing. Her father was one of the wizards that flew from the south, so I had to be careful. But her skin was the most beautiful I’d ever seen. Her smile concurred mountains and it melted my personality. I knew immediately, I wanted to marry her. So I sent my brother a letter, and within a week, he came himself. He got in touch with her father, and revealed who I was. It was nearly immediately settled, but her father asked one thing. Please go back to your home country. I know you’ve always missed it. And this is the chance to do so.

Elda told me something once we were alone. She wasn’t able to give birth. Even though I had a child wish, I immediately said it was alright. After all, I loved her and nothing would get between. We got married in the Castle while looking at the stars. Her father gave her a magical bow, and arrows who would always find their way back home. As he was The Nature Wizard.”

I looked at him with big eyes. The Nature Wizard. I nearly screamed out. And that one moment I let my guard down. My protection of nobody being able to sense I was a wizard. But At that moment, Elda came towards us. She looked at me, and instantly knew her father was dead. After all, there couldn’t be more than one wizard of each element. It was a sort circle. A circle that couldn’t be broken.

The devastation in Elda’s eyes was too much for me to handle. I loved her and I made her cry. Even though I nearly didn’t use magic for a year, I created a flower in front of me and picked it up. I ran after her as she disappeared in the woods. I called the nature to show me the way towards Elda. It the end, it turned out she hid in a tree deep in the forest. I decided it was time to travel in the sky. I called a vine, and I swung from the one tree to the other. As if I had never done something else.

After what seemed like two or three hours I reached her tree. I heard her crying by herself as I approached her. “Mum? Are you alright? Please, don’t be afraid. I can’t help it either.” I reached out to her as I gave her the flower. It was created with all information I heard from Nim about the last known Nature Wizard. He loved his wife and children more than the world, and that’s why he disappeared. He didn’t want to be a wizard, he wanted a quiet life. Which he got in the end.

As I didn’t know what to do, I gave her a hug and left her with the flower in her hand. I traced my way back to the exit of the forest and saw her husband watching over me. All I did was looking at him, and he gestured me to sit. And then he carried on as he never stopped talking.

“The two of us decided to settle down here. It was a nice place for fighting and close enough to the forest to escape. There, we dropped the seed her father gave us as well. it was magical. When we did that, the house we’re still living in built itself from the ground. It was fully made of leaves and branches, but it felt like coming home.

As me and Elda were both fighters, she a archer and I a swordsman, we decided to set up a school for self-defence in a nearby city. It’s where I go every day, to teach the pupils how to defend themselves. See it as the way I cope with the fact I don’t have children. I am glad I am able to learn them something useful. They call me Master Kenjio, as that used to be my title during the unending war. Kenjio comes from Kenji, it means sword of time in the old battle symbols. They added the o out of respect for me. And that’s how I left my old title as prince and advisor behind and became Master Kenjio.”

Master Kenjio finished his story. I looked at him with great respect. He followed his wife to her home country. His love must have been very strong. And that they are still together, amazing. I didn’t know what to say. I heard the grass tell me Elda was on her way back to us. I decided to wait. It was time for me to tell my story. But only once, and both of them had the right to hear them.

Elda threw herself in Master Kenjio’s arms when she returned. She was partly crying but felt comfortable so close to him. It was only when most of her tears had dried, that I started talking. I told them my horrible history, how The Order killed my family, how my parents abandoned me and how I became a nomad of the streets.

Their faces were shocked. I could read the horror in their eyes. It wasn’t something I liked talking about. Let alone to tell someone the whole story. But it had to be done. They gave me trust, and had faith in me, they cared for me as their own daughter. I felt strong enough to tell them.

When I finished, tears rolled over my face. Elda pulled me close as she let me cry. She put aside her own grief for me. I let it all out. I cried to the moon and sobbed all over her clothes. But from that day on, I started to talk normally again. I would ask things, and I would practise with my bow, as I’d never done any different.

One day, I decided I wanted to learn how to fight, hand by hand combat, and sword fighting. I wanted to be able to defend myself other than just being an archer. So I asked Master Kenjio to teach me. At first he didn’t want to but then he saw the determined look in my eyes, and he gave in. Yet on the day we were supposed to start, I was helping Elda in the garden, when I cut my right arm deeply. As a reflex I ordered a plant to wrap itself around me and to stop the bleeding. I cried out and Elda immediately was what the problem was. She ordered me to stay while she rushed into the house. It took her a long time to convince me, but in the end I let her have a look at the wound. She removed the leaves of the plant, and replaced them with a long strep of fabric. It was her sort of bandage and she also put some wool on the wound, so it would suck up the blood.

Master Kenjio refused to teach me like that as first, since I was right handed. But I said that I could learn with left as well. That it didn’t matter which side I started with. After all, a real swordsman had to be able to fight with both hands. And with that, my training to be undefeatable started.

Second Writing – The Wizard

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The next morning I woke up surrounded by a small haze. It was as the weather knew something important was about to happen. As if every living being, every ghost, every animal knew today was important.

I hugged the blanket as I got up, while being greeted by the sun which was shining through the window. Today is the day. The day everything changes. “Happy birthday Keira.” I whispered to myself while I got up. It was time, it was time to face the truth. Time to face the legacy of my sister. Time to wait and see, if there was something, or if it were just characters. If it was the last, I wouldn’t rest before I knew what they meant. I’d travel the world, finding answers, and never returning till the riddle was solved.

I wrapped myself in the pink blanket as the cold air from outside greeted me. Then I stared at the characters for a while. I didn’t know what they were, they didn’t even make sense to me. It was impossible to see what my sister meant, but I knew for sure, I was the one who had to understand. The message was written for me, and for nobody else. It was time. I had to push my fears aside and live through the moment. There was no other way.

My hand reached for the blood as I decided to touch it. It was now or never. I hovered over several characters deciding to touch the first one. My finger reached the blood and as the two of them touched, it felt as the wall exploded. This was blood magic. No doubt. This was what my sister left me.

“Kiera. After all this time you came. Your strength and courage are mine. Don’t forget. Your way is my way, your pain is my pain. I’ve lived through the years, waiting. As my being existed through the characters on the wall, waiting for you to return. I trapped myself, hoping to help you one day. And today is that day. You have finally come to face your duty, to face the end of time. As you know, the silent war is upon us. You will need to free the wizards, The Last Wizards of the earth. They are in danger. Everybody knows they exist but they don’t know about you. It is a dangerous time to live. But you can do it. I see you already saved The Water Wizard, and she named you Warrior of Faith. Go under that name, as nobody will know that you’re actually The Trial Wizard then. The one who holds on to all the power in the world. The one divined by humans, forgotten in the past. I will gift you something to hold on. As you got the Bottle of Life from The Water Wizard I will give you the Ice of Death. It’s a relic that protects you from the cold. Hang this necklaces around your neck, and I’ll always be beside you. But don’t forget, come back here if you ever need advice, as I am bound to the characters and the characters are bound to me. They will show you the way when you’re lost. I wish you the best of luck Kiera.” 

It was slightly shocking, hearing my sister’s voice, seeing her face. After all this time, after all this time my sister was alive. Not as human, but she still existed. I took the Ice of Death from her hands and tied it around my neck. I would never lose sight of it. It would protect me, but it would also keep the memory of my sister alive. Nothing else mattered, I got a part of myself back with her. A part that was lost without her, lost without the other half. Now I had the strength to continue. The strength to move on. Since she had returned to my side.

It was time to leave, for the last time I glanced at the characters. Then I moved through the house. Would there be anything worth taking with me? Was there anything important enough to put in my bag? I wandered from the first floor to the ground floor as I looked at the walls. They were old, the paint was rotten and the smell awful. I remembered the good days. When the walls were like flowers, bright and colourful. When the wind had a slight breeze through the house. When the laughter of me and my siblings danced through the house. It was a time in the past, a time I was happy. A time without order and chaos ruling my life. A time of peace.

I went down the stairs, carefully jumping over the loose parts, just as I had done in my youth. But I made one mistake, and I heard one crack and I nearly slide the way down. But just in time I was able to save myself. I jumped down on a different stair as I found my balance again. That was close, too close. I needed to repair that. But I had no time.

My original plan was to use my old home as a sort base of attack. But seeing the state of the house, I realised that was of no use. It was so old, there were holes everywhere and it was perfect for an ambush. Something I couldn’t afford at the moment. I had to live and be free.

As I passed the living room I remembered an old picture on the wall. It was worth taking with me. The picture was nearly no weight and it remembered me of the good times. It was a picture of our family. I carefully stepped into the living room as I looked around. It was a total mess. It looked like someone searched for something important a few years ago. I rushed through the room heading towards the place where the picture used to be. And then I saw it. All that was left of the picture. Somebody tore it apart and me and my sister were the only two left on it. No parents, no little brother. somebody stole that part of the picture and searched the house for this. But what could it be and what could I do against it?

With the leftover picture in my hand I walked outside. It was time for me to leave. Calling my sleeping bag and the small thin pink blanket with a summon spell I packed them in my bag. It was a good thing I learnt from Master Kenjio how to pack a bag fast and comfortable, otherwise I would have been doomed the moment I left his land.

The forest surrounded me as an old friend. I had nothing to fear, I had nothing to lose. It was my calling. Even though my sister said I was The Trial Wizard, I was also The Nature Wizard. As I remembered with a smile on my face how the two of us found out, the memories embraced me like an old friend.

We found that out when my sister tried finding what element was hers to control. I did the exact same at home. We carefully looked which items the elders showed us and collected them at home. My sister wasn’t able to figure out what her element was, as it was summer when we first tried. But that was good for me, because I recall letting the plants in the garden grow up to a meter. My sister had to hide the plants, as it wasn’t her element but mine. As she cut them down, we realised I had the gift of life and the gift of nature.

I sneaked in the library of the elders once, to get the book left for The Nature Wizard. And I replaced it with a handmade copy of flowers, as it looked exactly the same as the book I was holding on to. While my sister returned to the magic lessons, I still followed her everywhere, but now being aware of life forces surrounding me. It was a lot to take in for a twelve-year-old, but I managed. I became more silent and only spoke when spoken to me. The elders blamed it on me being a teenager but they had no clue.

As the summer ended the elders became impatient. They wanted to know what element my sister had. They realised it wasn’t one of the creating elements which meant it was one of the elements of death. And they were dangerous. Long ago wizards with this kind of magic where naughty. They destroyed cities and harmed people. But my sister was caring and looked after everyone.

Then one day, it was stone cold, a boy was trapped in ice. As me and my sister were on our way to our daily lessons when she heard the ice scream. “Help! Someone is trying to kill me.” She didn’t know what it was, started running and found the voice of the ice calling inside herself. She saw the boy, killing the ice as she yelled. “Stop! You’re hurting her!” The boy looked up and laughed, but then in a matter of a second, my sister gestured the ice to fade away. “Never laugh at the ice, ever again.” And with that the boy turned around and ran.

That day, we approached the elders before we could start our lesson. My sister calmly told them what happened, and that she didn’t mean any harm. But ice had feelings too, she could hear her, understand her, as it was an old friend. From that day on, the elders were scared of her. They refused to teach her, so they had a boy run to the City of Ice. In this place, there was a generation trained to teach The Ice Wizard. Weeks went by, and in the end an 25-year-old showed up. Telling the boy got murdered while entering the city, but that he himself had come to fulfil his duty and train The Ice Wizard.

I sighed, facing the forest. It talked to me, it gave me warmth, it made me feel at home. But then I felt it, humans, tonnes of humans inside the forest. Why were they here? What was there purpose? Why were they crossing Nobody’s Land? Was there a reason they were here. I had to protect the forest. Grabbing onto a vine I speeded through the trees. It was time for me to see who they were, and what they were doing to upset the forest.

Arriving at the right spot, I hid myself in a tree. I was one with the forest, the soldiers couldn’t see me, but I saw them. It was a camp full of soldiers. It fully existed out of tents, smaller ones and bigger ones. In the middle there was huge tent, bigger than all others, and it carried a flag on the top. I was in shock. I knew that flag. That flag was the symbol of The Order. The symbol my parents used to sign their letters with. The symbol they had on their clothes, as they were part of The Order.

I made it myself comfortable in the tree I was sitting in. With some help of the nature magic I created a bed on 20 meter height, and I also made blanket created out of leaves from the surrounding trees. Then after I tucked myself in also using the pink blanket, I reached out with my mind. I needed to be able to fall back to my body at any time possible, since the upcoming trick I wanted to use costed a lot of energy.

The book I stole said the following “Once you make sure your body is in a good positioning to fall asleep, you open up your mind and enter your existence through nature. It is important that you keep your awareness close to your body at all time, since anyone who finds your body and just touches it, is able to kill you. By doing this you are able to protect your awareness somewhere close to you. Powerful wizards can go further while weaker wizards stay closer. But remember, this spell is very advanced and if you try this while being in training, or while not entirely knowing the entire range of your powers, you are able to kill yourself. Be warned fellow Nature Wizard.”

I slowly started paying attention to my breathing. Breath in, breath out, and breath in again. It costed some time, but after a while I was in sync with the forest’s heartbeat. It was only then, that I pushed my soul out of my body and took the time to explore.

The wind blew through my entire existence and I finally felt free. I remembered the first time I tried this, the day after my parents left. I had to know where they were, so I had to try, even if I ended up killing myself. I didn’t find them that day, but I did find the Spirit Nim. Nim was a carefree girl living her childhood dreams. She told me she used to be the first Nature Wizard’s daughter, but as she wanted to be like her father, she tried the spell and was stuck between her body and ghost forever.

“I know, it wasn’t very smart.” she told me back then. “But I’ve learnt how to enjoy this life. I watch over children and sometimes have a visit from a wizard like yourself. Yet I’ve never met one as young as you are.” She soon learnt my history and guided me through the World Above, as she called the place. That day I didn’t reach my parents, but I learnt a lot about the history of Nobody’s Land, as well as about The Nature Wizards who lived before me.

I returned to the present. It was time to see what secrets were in the camp. As I came closer a lot of questions entered my mind. Why was The Order here? How did they get past the River of Fallen, but mostly, why weren’t they hunting down the wizards?

I looped around the camp and as I saw nothing interesting I decided to check out the main tent. It took me a lot of mental strength to evaporate through the tent and reach the inside. It was something I only did when necessary. But being on the inside I realised it was worth it.

The tent was divided into two parts. One, which looked like a used prison, and one which looked like a living room from one of the higher in commands from The Order. I decided to wait. I had to know who was held in prison here and why. And if these person or people were worth rescuing.

For me the waiting became an eternity. It took a lot of energy to stay in this form, and I felt myself becoming weaker every second. But I had to do this, for the sake of the prisoners. I called upon the strength of the forest, and all nature surrounding me. And the gave it to me. As a gift, because I’d protected them, and taken care of them ever since I found them.

Then after some time, which was only an hour, but felt like a whole day, the commander walked in. And with him two prisoners and six guards. I immediately recognized one of them. It was Master Kenjio’s wife! I saw her gasp for breath as well. She was able to see me as the daughter of a wizard. But what I didn’t expect was the other person to gasp for breath as well. I realised he must be a wizard as well, as I sensed his aura. But which one? I couldn’t tell from his clothes, and there was no way to read the signs on his arms. Within a second I gestured my hand to my lips, telling the two of them to be silence, and then, as I knew enough, I slowly went back to my body and fell asleep.

First Writing – The Wizard

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I stepped out of bed and there was nothing to see. All I faced was the abandoned of my parents. The feelings they left inside the house. But other than that, I was alone. There was nobody to help me. There was nothing to see. The only thing left to hear was my own heartbeat.

I once told my sister, we would stick together forever. We would face the world with all its fears and the times of the ocean. But now, but now I don’t know anymore. My sister gone, my house abandoned, nothing left to lose. I was alone.

I faced the wall of my room with only one meaning. The blood written characters never dried. It was exactly how I remembered. I couldn’t believe it. The last time I was here, I was with my parents. There was laughter, joy, and I could hear my little brother screaming through the house. But that was before they took everything I loved. They took my brother and they killed my sister in front of my eyes… But my parents did nothing. They let it all happen, as if it was just a dream.

For me it was unbelievable. I felt the pain in my heart, the pain in my head. The pain inside me burned, and it still does. For as long as I live, no, for as long as I exist I can’t move on. The longer I stare at the wall, the harder it gets to hold my tears back. And then I can’t stand it anymore. I cry out loud, like a wolf, and nobody is able to hear me.

Once, once there was a time, a time I had joy, a time of peace. But that was before The Order attacked. The Order my parents worked for. The thing they believed in with their heart and soul. The reason they let them kill my sister. My only friend, my twin to be exact. But for now, I’m living in the past, reliving my memories with them. But never giving up.

I slowly reach to the wall. Would I really be able to feel the blood if I touched the wall? Would the characters my sister wrote with her hand, cut off, really become something? Would it finally make sense, even though it didn’t years ago? Was it a hidden message, or was it just, the last relic of The Ice Wizard?

Being in fear, I can’t decide, should I touch it, or shan’t I. Could it trigger the oh so called blood magic each wizard is able to perform only once, or at least that’s what the books said, and what the elders from the village told me. Yet, if it was, it would kill that statement. As I was the only one who knew my sister made a blood oath. She made a blood oath with me. And she said, “Once forever, never apart, you will rise warrior of time, in a song of ice and fire, in a time of the unknown, you’ll be The Trial Wizard, the only one with the power of good and evil, and for that, I will protect you. Together we will face the world.”

All I said back that time was yes, but it was enough. The blood magic bound us till the end of time. Till the end of the beginning, till the day our existence would face from the world. We didn’t tell the elders though. Them and my sister’s teacher would be devastated. Knowing that a 14-year-old was able to use blood magic, yet this power was only to behold to the strongest wizards of our time. 

But, would the touch of a mere 16-year-old be enough? The characters had been here for nearly three years, as I was turning 17 tomorrow. September 21st, the worst day of my life. The day my sister got murdered, on our fourteenth birthday. On a day that should have been happy. But a day that ended in tears. A day I couldn’t forget, no matter how hard I tried.

I decided. Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be the day of choice. The day I’d finally touch the characters and see what my sister left me, or didn’t leave me.

I walked outside. Up to the mountain where I left my bag with ingredients the other day. Somewhere well hidden in a rabbit hole, under the tallest tree. It was time for me to start. To start my real duty, the duty I ran away from nearly three years ago, as I was scared. Scared of what to come, scared of what would happen, of what would happen when I claimed my spot in the world. The spot my sister left me.

She was the only wizard known in our area, as nobody knew I had more power than her. We hid it well. Till the end of times. It was our choice, as I didn’t want to be in the spotlights. So she was the one taking magic lessons, the one getting all attention. They wanted to teach her so badly, they’d agree with nearly everything she wanted. And all she required was one thing. “Let my sister be with my side, forever.” I could hear the words she spoke on our tenth birthday as yesterday. They had never left my mind, they stayed with me just as my blood, and I’d come across them in my mind every so often. 

I opened the front door carefully. There was a small cracking sound as I walked through it, but it wasn’t troublesome. I looked over the field, once known as our garden and turned right. It was time for me to start and rebuild this place.

Our home was well hidden and abandoned. Because of these combinations it made the perfect hideout for me. Everyone had forgotten the house in the past three years, as my parents left the day after our birthday.

September 22nd, second horrible day in my life. I just turned fourteen years old, as my parents weren’t at home when I woke up. All they left was a note. A small note on the kitchen table for me. “Dear Kiera, even after everything we’ve done for you and your sister, we took you in, we cared for you, became your foster parents as your real parents left you on the doorstop of the elders, it is over. The Order is everything we believed in. It was our duty to take care of you, as you had no home, but now you’re old enough to stand alone. You won’t be chased by The Order as you sister was, since it’s their new duty to kill all wizards. You’re just a mere human, unable hurt anyone. They killed our son as punishment, but we are faithful to The Order once again now. Don’t expect to ever see us again. But we love you from the bottom of our heart. Remember one thing. If The Order tells us to kill you one day, we won’t hesitate. Love, mum & dad.”

I left the house and started running. I had to be in perfect form, which I was, but I had to stay this way. There was no way I would be able to survive otherwise. That’s what Master Kenjio told me. He would be scolding at me if he knew I wasn’t doing my daily routine.

I fastened my pace, respecting the last words of Master Kenjio. “Stay focused at all cost Kiera, only then you’re able to face the fiercest enemy.” It was the last thing he told me, before The Order threw a spear through his heart. They never saw me, as they couldn’t detect magic, not yet. So my invisible barrier saved me. And there, half a year ago, in memory of his life, is where I decided I had to take my rightful place in the war. The Silent War between The Last Wizards on earth and The Order.

But were to start. I accelerated my speed as I let my mind wonder. The Last Wizards didn’t even know I existed. All they knew was that my sister had been in training for years, and that she disappeared, died, or whatever wizards do. It’s impossible to know what comes after dead for wizards. But one day I would find out. Since I would die myself at some point.

I reached the tree. It was there exactly how I left it. The robe on the branch, the rabbit hole underneath it, and my bag safe and well. I retrieved my bag as I checked it. Nobody touched it. Not even an animal. I swung it on my back as I pulled the rope. It was time to get my weapons to do my daily training.

I carefully climbed in the tree, using the robe. After pulling myself up to several branches I reached the branch with my jacket. In my jacket was a sword and a bow with arrows. The sword was made of the finest metal found in our world, mend by Dwarfs and protected by Elves. It was the first gift Master Kenjio gave me. And it was special.

“Take this sword Kiera, as it was made for you. The King of the Dwarves and The Queen of the Elves told me this. They said as time will pass and nature changes a little girl will come to you. She wants to learn, she has the courage, but she’s scared of the world. Teach her and give her our blessing, as we once gave you yours. She is known to be much more important that anyone will ever know.” I felt the words greeting me as I touched the sword. It happened every time I did it. For me it was a reminder to do good. To remember what it is like to be helpless, and to help others.

The bow wasn’t much different. But I got it from my master’s wife. She was the one who made it, and faced the mountains to slaughter the person who killed her husband. Before she left on her quest, she called me, knowing I was still close to the body. As a daughter of a wizard, she was able to sense magic. “Kiera, take my bow, my arrows and let them guide you through the land. The arrows will never run out, as my dad enchanted them to return repaired. The magic will serve you, as it once served me.”

That was the last thing I ever heard from her. She left, to be forgotten and to never return. I waited a month, but then I felt fear coming close so I cleared my path, took my belongings and started the long journey to my home.

Feeling more comfortable reunited with all my belongings I started dashing through the trees. It was time to return to the small open area in the forest, which I found yesterday. It was the perfect place to practise. In no time I set up four goals and started practising. First I used my bow to hit the targets, and then I used my sword to go through all the most difficult practical routines my master thought me. When I finished the sun had nearly set.

I took my belongings as I walked back to the house. Tomorrow would be the day. I would be seventeen and I would finally see what legacy my sister left me. It didn’t matter if it was good or bad, all that mattered was that I got to experience my sister’s magic once again. At least, I thought I would. After all, it was still a mystery if the characters in our room were magic or not.

As I entered the house again, I closed the door behind me. It was time for me to sleep. But first food. I opened my bag and I took out some of the last vegetables which I gathered the other day and ate them. I didn’t taste any of them, as my thoughts were wandering back to my sister. When I finished I took my bottle out of my bag and drank from it.

The bottle was a gift from The Water Wizard. She gave it to me when I saved her life nearly two months ago. I killed the soldiers attacking her, as I didn’t realise she was a wizard. I can still see the horror on her face when she realised she was surrounded. As a fellow wizard I was able to pick up the sense of a wizard, but in this case I only felt the scream of a fellow human in danger. Luckily I was always hiding my own sense of being a wizard, as I had done since I was a child. I reached her, when she lost all hope. Without a second I used my bow to kill 3 of the soldiers.

But I couldn’t kill the other 4, as they realised somebody was killing their mates. I yelled a battle cry and drew my sword. Within no time I was surrounded. I reflected the attacks of the soldiers the best I could, but I knew his would be my end. But then a wave of water put an end to their lives. “Thank you Warrior of Faith.” She spoke to me. “It has long been forgotten by humans wizards like me exists. Yet you didn’t hesitate to help me, even though you could have paid with your life. And for that I gift you this. This is the eternal Bottle of Life. It will supply you, and only you with water no matter where you are.”

I walked to what once was me and my sister’s room. The blood written characters greeted me like an old friend. There was nothing to be afraid of, nothing new. Only the signs on the door reminded me to be careful. The signs I made the day I left, so nobody would be able to enter this room without me noticing.

My bed was there, exactly how I left it this morning. I changed my clothes as I put my weapons next to me on the floor. After that, I wrapped myself into my sleeping bag. As there was nothing left from the original sheets, except for this blanket. A small thin pale pink blanket just enough to wrap me in. I was so happy when I found it, because, because my sister made it for my fourteenth birthday. She gave it at midnight. And that’s the only reason it survived the madness.

Feeling more tired I pulled the pink blanket close, and it greeted me as I’d never been away. I felt the magic inside. The power of my sister, ever growing. It was all in there, but the stories she wove in that blanket were all mine, it was the future and the past. Something to never forget.

Lingering

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It’s been a while, and lots of things have happened, for all I know I’ve confessed to a boy, and more, but for now he just wants to be friends, even though he doesn’t act like it. So have this poem, lingering, in my eyes towards him.

Lingering

What if every time I get closer I get pushed away,
I know the words, yet I am too afraid to say.
My comments kept inside me all along
Just one note away from singing the correct song.

Somethings get closer than what we will be for real
It’s a thing I don’t want to feel.
This is just about you and me I know
But I don’t know if what you do is real or for show.

I’m afraid to ask it again, but also to stay away
There are so many reasons why I should stay.
I have been enlightened with a cheer in my heart
No experience, but an even braver heart.

So, I continue to wait and see
Hoping that friendship will become more, and I become we.

Endangered Journey – (6)

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“Okay everything is all set.” Except for the horses. Lissandra thought in her mind. Luca glanced at her and expressed a worried look on her face.

“What about the horses?” Eliza’s voice sounded as if it came from far away. Her eyes looked sleepy and it felt as if she just wanted to go to sleep to never wake up.

“I don’t know where to put them.”

“Let me show you.” Eliza said as she wanted to get up. Luca, however, had a different idea and put her down at the floor.

“You’re staying her.”

“But…”

“No arguing you two. Luca will show me. I’m not letting you go outside today anymore Eliza, I don’t want anything happening to you.” Luca and Lissandra wrapped Eliza in her bedroll and got out of the tent. Luca guided Joe as Lissandra calmed Toby and followed him.

The two of them reached the part of the camp where all the horses stayed. Luca was warmly welcomed by the stable boy but the soldiers at a fire close by just stared at Lissandra asking themselves why the bride of their queen had showed up.

“Hey Luca, where did you leave your girlfriend? Or did you replace her?” The same soldier that asked Jonas some questions earlier was picking on his fellow mates again.

“Maybe it’s time you just shut up soldier.” Lissandra interrupted his question as she approached him. “I don’t like the attitude you’re showing towards the people friendly enough to help me.” With that Lissandra turned around and shifted her attention to the stable boy.

“My Queen.” The stable boy bowed as he tried to not look her in the eyes.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Lissandra felt ignored by the fact that he didn’t want to look her in the eyes, as that was the custom for her people and it took her a while before she realised it was probably rude to look someone in the eyes if the person in question had a lower rank than you did.

“Pleasure as well my Queen.” The stable boy sounded surprised as if he didn’t believe the Queen was a pleasant person after all. “I will look after your horse for the time being. I am sure he will be happy to stay with the others.” Lissandra nodded. She kissed Toby on the head and waved goodbye, as he and Joe left with the boy.

“We need to go back now.” Luca’s voice sounded disturbed yet slightly worried and Lissandra agreed. There was no time to ask around and get to know the soldiers better, she had to take care of Eliza.

“Let’s go.” The two of them ran through the snow and tried to reach the tent as soon as possible. Some of the party members looked at them in disbelief, but Lissandra didn’t care at that point. Eliza was running out of time, and she nor Luca wanted to let her go.

The tent finally appeared in front of them as what they thought had been ages. They rushed inside the first part and saw it was just as dark as that they had left in. Luca kicked off his snow boots and searched for Eliza as Lissandra calmly put out hers and went for the fire. She blew on the fire and tried to get it on but realised it wasn’t working.

“Fire red, get warm instead.” A fire immediately lighted up the tent and the cold got slowly embraced by the heat. It also gave Lissandra enough light to see Luca holding Eliza as he was crying.

“She’s so cold.” Luca’s voice sounded broken and Lissandra saw the grew in his aura swallow the bright colours as she looked closer. Her aura view also told her Eliza was close to her ending as nearly everything glowed deep dark-blue instead of the normal flickering of an aura.

“Will she live?”

“I’m not sure Luca. She’s so far gone. I’m not even sure if I can help her.”

“Please help her!”

“Even if it means you might end up dead?” Lissandra didn’t even need to finish the question or Luca already nodded to her. She knew he would do everything, so it would be alright.

“Remove Eliza’s blanket, and sit down at the other side of the fire. There might be one way, but it’s dangerous, really dangerous.” Luca nodded and did as he said. Then he sat down on the other side of the fire as Eliza was sitting. She looked into his eyes and smiled, it was the last thing she did before passing out. Thomas wanted to run towards her but once glance of Lissandra stopped him from doing so.

“Energy of life come to me, essence of the pain set free.” Lissandra stood at the edge of the fire nearly touching Luca and Eliza. She however threw up her arms and drew the aura of both Luca and Eliza towards her. It took her a lot of effort to control Eliza’s, even though her body as so weakened. Lissandra knew it as the life magic fighting to take Eliza’s life, and not wanting to share any of it. In the end Lissandra managed to mix the aura of two of them and fell down.

“Two that will fulfil one destiny.” The last word sounded as a whisper and Lissandra curled up to see Luca rush towards Eliza, only to pass out herself.

“Daughter of Linea.” a voice called in Lissandra’s head. “Wake up.”

“But why?” Lissandra mumbled the words as she turned around to fall back asleep, but the voice didn’t let her.

“The winter spell.” The voice pushed her up and guided her awareness over the camp. The party members where shivering, and she was the only one able to help them. Lissandra took a deep breath and spread her hand over the tents.

“Winter, cold, stay away.” Lissandra took another breath and whispered the last words of the spell as well. “Let me protect the people who have less to say.” Then the dark voice in her head vanished and she passed out.

The following morning Lissandra was woken up by a noise outside her tent. She only had the time to splash water in her face before someone walked in on her.

“Hello, someone there?” A middle aged man walked into the tent and made his voice sound loud and clear. He had a sword in his hand and was suited in full battle armour.

“I’m here. Who are you why dare you to enter my tent, such early this morning.” Lissandra sat down next to the fire and didn’t fully feel rested. She and the man crossed faces but he didn’t show any kind of emotion at all.

“I was sent by my supervisor, sergeant Ian. He’s worried since Luca didn’t show up for his night shift.”

“I see. Please report back to your sergeant I forced Luca to stay in my tent, as both me and my maid weren’t able to keep the fire going last night. If it wasn’t for him we would have most likely frozen to death.”

“Alright my queen.” The soldier saluted towards her and went back in the cold. Lissandra however check on both Luca and Eliza’s aura only to be surprised both of them still lived.

“Luca, Eliza wake up. We need to get ready to leave, or people will question why we aren’t up yet.” Luca stirred as he heard Lissandra’s voice only a little bit back from where he was sitting.

“Does she live?”

“She does. But she’ll have to stay close to either you or me.” Luca nodded as he got up and left the tent. It as time for him to retreat for his morning duties.

“Oh, someone came to check on you for your night shift. I told them I forced you to stay inside to keep the fire burning since me and Eliza were too tired to do so. You better stick to that story.”

“Alright.” With that Luca left the tent and Lissandra was on her own again. She woke up Eliza and the two of them slowly started to do their morning routine. Eliza went to get the horses on her own even though Lissandra followed her in her mind. They saddled the horses and packed their belongings only to figure out they were the first to finish.

“I think we should get something to eat.” Lissandra said to Eliza.

“Indeed, let’s go to the cook area. I’m sure there would be some leftovers from yesterday’s dinner.” Eliza and Lissandra walked next to their horses and Lissandra payed attention to what everyone they passed was saying.

“Hey James, can you pass me the salt? This part has been frozen as well.” One of the soldiers yelled at the one running around with salt as they tried to remove the tents.

“Sure, give me a second, Jonas asked before you.” Lissandra was worried as she watched the soldiers breaking up the tents, but knew she couldn’t help them with her magic as she wanted to stay under the radar.

“Ah, my lady, I assume you would like to have some breakfast?” The chief of the kitchen appeared in front of her and pointed at the pan above the fire. “I’ll have to disappoint you. Everything froze overnight, even with the fires surrounding them.”

“That is alright. But I think you should check again, it seems to be quite warm.” As Lissandra was speaking she chanted the word fire in her mind while thinking of the pan above the fire.

“I think you’re right my lady. It seems the food thawed. Let me offer you the first bit.” Lissandra and Eliza ate their breakfast in silence as soldiers and servants joined them as well. Several of them sat down to have a small chat with Lissandra and she enjoying hearing them talk about their lives back home, yet at the same time longed back for her on room as well.

It took the party an hour more than usual to fully pack the camp again. Lissandra and Eliza took their place after King Roland and his General. It seemed that today they would finally reach the lower parts of the mountain and say goodbye to some of the cold. Lissandra was relieved about that, since that meant her spell had worked, and nobody died yet.

During the day Lissandra checked on Eliza. Her aura had changed since she used her life magic to bound Luca and Eliza and you saw the bright colours of Luca’s aura mixed with the deep dark-blue aura Eliza got from the life magic of the wizard. Lissandra had never seen such thing before, but she didn’t complain. It somehow worked out, yet she didn’t tell the two of them hat she had done yet, and at this point it as too dangerous to do so. She decided she would only tell the two of them about the connection they shared when it was a treat of life or death.

“Princess Lissandra.”

“Roland?” Lissandra’s face looked neutral as King Roland approached her to talk to her.

“I heard you allowed one of the soldiers to stay in your tent at night.”

“That is correct Roland. I was so exhausted and my maid felt sick, so I couldn’t make her stay up to keep the fire alive. I asked the first person who passed to take the job, and he did. I am soon to be their Queen after all.” It took a while before Roland answered, and Lissandra felt as if he was considering her argument.

“Alright then. I’m glad you and your servant are feeling better now.” King Roland sounded indifferent as he returned to his General at the head of the party. Lissandra refused to ride with him today as she was only used for show, and enjoyed her place between the servants. Eliza showed her where her place in the party would be, and that’s where the two of them stayed for now, until the time came King Roland would force Lissandra back at his side.

The last few days went by without something special occurring. The party kept the same routine as they had had the whole journey through the mountain, and here and there snow got replaced by grass. The nights grew less cold and Lissandra stopped using her spell to kill the cold. It gave her more energy for the spell she as going to use to travel through the land.

Elaine once explained to her that her speciality was the connection to nature. She would be able to shape the earth in different kind of shapes, as well as use them to travel fast without being seen. With one stack of energy you would be able to cover at least half the country, or at least that’s what she always told Lissandra. Lissandra had never really tried the enchantment, but knew it was her only chance.

On the 17th day of the journey the party finally said goodbye to the mountains and went down the hill to end up in the city of Oyan, the first of the so many to come. It was that night that Lissandra retreated to her tent early and gave Eliza orders to not let anyone in or out. She was joined by Luca who was assigned as Lissandra’s personal guard. Lissandra suspected his sergeant assigning him to it, but she was relieved since she knew he would guard both her and Eliza with the best of his ability.

Lissandra stood on the ground and tried to recall the steps Elaine told her. It involved a lot of steps, and the first one was finding a place her feet touched the earth. She removed her socks and felt the earth under her feet while nodding to herself.

“This place is perfect.” She stood up and felt the power of the land flow through her. It felt like flying but different. She could feel through the mountains and snow, but on the other side she felt the side pushing into the land, trying to find a way to eat the land. The second step Elaine told her as to make a few random gestures in the direction she wanted to travel. And then the last step before saying the enchantment as to picture your destination in your head.

“Earth take me with you, send me to the place I don’t want to get though.” Lissandra felt that she was first pushed up into the air, but she sank deep into the earth right after. It only took a mere second for the earth to push Lissandra out again, and she looked at her surroundings. The earth had dropped her right at the front door of the cottage she had seen so many times already.

Lissandra knocked the door and waited. Then she knocked again, knowing the person living there wasn’t used to visitors at all. The door opened and a slightly surprised man stood in the doorway.

“Thomas!” Lissandra threw herself in his arms and he embraced her, to never let go again.

Endangered Journey – (5)

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“Jonas, do you think that when we arrive back home, your wife will see have her belly stuffed up?” One of the soldiers laughed as he asked his fellow mate his question.

“I don’t think so. I’ll be returning to my home and it’ll be done with the quietness. I honestly wonder if I am going to be a proud father of a son or a daughter.” Lissandra felt bad that Jonas couldn’t see the birth of his child since he had joined King Roland on his delegation towards Linea. This was just another point that showed her King Roland wasn’t a good king towards his people and she wondered for how long that would still be going on.

Lissandra thanked the kitchen staff again and decided to call it an early night. She walked back towards her tent and as she checked her surroundings again and felt a sort of energy wave. A person on the left appeared. Lissandra tried to get a look at his face but had to look all the way up and failed. The men’s face seemed to be covered with his dark-brown hair which was waving in front of his face.

“So we meet at last.” A voice dark and deep assembled in her mind and it fit with the darker skin she saw underneath his hair.

“It seems we do.” Lissandra answered with her voice and stayed calm, not moving anymore.

“You are protecting the camp from the storm, even though they are not your people. For that I am grateful.” Lissandra nodded towards him, and was well aware of the fact the wizard had its own mind.

“I am simply doing what every Queen-to-be would do. These will soon be my people, and I can’t let them die if I have the strength to save them.”

“I agree, Daughter of Linea. This is why, I will not bother you till we are out of the cold, no matter what my master says. I refuse to see more men die.” Lissandra was surprised he used the title of the old days, but held her face straight.

“Then we agree.” With that the wizard vanished and Lissandra resumed her walk to her tent. The wizard did the same, and Lissandra saw him disappear into the night.

It was colder in the tent as the night before when Lissandra entered. She saw Eliza was sound asleep in the small room made for a servant and smiled. Lissandra sat down on her bedroll and oversaw the camp again. It was a bit more difficult to do because of the place of the camp, but it in the end she pictured all of them.

“Winter, cold, stay away. Let me protect the people who have less to say.” She whispered those worlds again, creating the invisible barrier once more. It drained more energy than last time, and as she was already exhausted the barrier wasn’t stable at the beginning. It took her a few moments to concentrate again, and then she finally stabilized the barrier. It was now set for another night of dark and cold.

“My queen?” Eliza was sitting next to Lissandra’s bedroll and hoped she would wake up.

“I’m up. Did anything in the camp change?” Lissandra got out of her bedroll and changed into her warm clothes. She wore a deep blue cloak and with a warm dress underneath. The cloak had been a gift of Elaine when word was spread one of the Princesses would be leaving to marry the Southern King. She had sent it after the party to give it to her, and it held a solemn note.

“This cloak will protect you not only from the cold, but also when you want to go unseen it will grant you that wish.” Lissandra knew exactly what Elaine had meant with that, she wanted her to at least visit Thomas once to explain what is going on.

Lissandra knew her father would have been honoured that one of his daughters had been given a gift of an old relic of their people, but he wasn’t aware. The cloak had been from Lissandra’s mother who had given it to Elaine to keep it save till a situation occurred which was proper enough to pass it on to the next person.

“Nothing has changed my Queen. But somehow I got ordered to stay with you during the day instead of Osvar.” Lissandra nodded, that meant the wizard was keeping his promise and wouldn’t do anything till they were out of the mountains.

“That’s good.”

“Indeed. I’m sure Luca would be relieved to hear this as well. If I see him I’ll pass him the news.”

“That’s alright. Let’s pack the tent and all the other belongings for now. Can you retrieve Toby from the stable boy?” Eliza nodded and put on her coat as well. She stepped outside into the freezing cold and was on her way.

Lissandra first packed her bedroll and then made sure her magical artefacts where still save before she packed the rest of her belongings. Everything was already standing neatly in the tent, and the inside layer was already rolled up when Eliza returned with Toby. Lissandra felt them arriving and went outside.

“Hey Toby, how’s my boy?” She petted him on the nose and stroke over his fur. He responded to her by nearly licking her hair but she just dodged him time.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you again too.” Lissandra let Toby to the entrance of the tent and carried all her belongings outside. Together with Eliza she made sure everything was safely put in the saddlebags and they took the last part of the tent down. This part was unique as it folded itself to a bag with leftover space. Lissandra put her most important belongings inside, which where her magical artefacts and the book Thomas had bought for her on her seventeenth birthday. It had something magical and that’s why Thomas got if for her, but at the same time it meant more to her than she would be able to explain.

It took a while until the rest of the camp had finished packing. Eliza and Lissandra were waiting at the start of the party, where some of the members had already assembled as they watched the others clean up.

“Ah, Princess Lissandra there you are.” A soft voice appeared from the side of her. She stared into the eyes of a woman unknown, yet it felt as she was staring in the dark. The woman’s hair was just as dark as her eyes and Lissandra didn’t know what to think of her.

“The King sent me. I am to give you this cloak as a gratitude of him. It was warm and will help you protect against the cold. He would be pleased to see you wear it during the trip.” The woman handed over a cloak which looked like a regular piece of clothing according to Lissandra.

“Thank you.” Lissandra accepted the cloak and checked it on magic. Even though the wizard gave her his word she wasn’t sure. When there was a positive outcome she decided it was worth wearing it.

“Queen no!” Eliza screamed as Lissandra was trying to put the cloak over her own. “That thing is poisoned. It reeks of sweetness but at the same time smells a bit bitter. It’s bluefly without any doubt.”

Lissandra closed her eyes and tried to picture the poison on the cloak. It took her a lot of concentration and Eliza was standing next to her, facing the worst.

“You’re right.” Lissandra saw a vague blue aura but it immediately slipped away as she spoke. She took a part of the snow and rubbed it over the clock, and then she saw the signs disappear.

“I’m going to pay Roland a visit. He won’t be getting away with this.” As Lissandra tried to give Toby orders she saw the camp had fully disappeared and knew it wasn’t the time. She gestured at Eliza and the two of them took their place in the party.

It was getting even colder as the day continued but nobody said a thing. Roland and his General let the group and Lissandra followed them as she made sure the gift didn’t touch Toby in any way, she was in no position to lose her horse. At some point Roland turned to Lissandra.

“You spend a lot of time at the regular fires, why does a noble born lower herself to speak to the servants?” Lissandra sighed and knew she would have no way denying her presence at the fire.

“In Linea there is a custom everyone is equal, no royalty should be placed above the regular inhabitants, nor people should try to kill each other.” Roland looked her in the eyes and he saw hers burning. They weren’t the deep blue ones like they used to be when they first met, but Lissandra’s eyes were burning with passion.

“We love the people, and would protect them at all cost. It means we don’t give others presents they don’t need and we don’t try to kill the person who protects us from the cold.” She looked back at Roland with her eyes as fire, hoping her message got across. Then she left a note on his aura, marking him as a traitor. It would only last a few days, but she as sure someone else than her would spot it.

Roland continued to ride in silence till the end of the road, there he knew he had to make the decision which road to go and he looked at the map his General carried with him.

“Everyone, we’ll be going down!” The general’s voice echoed through the mountains as he voiced the decision of the king. Lissandra knew it would only be a matter of time before they would reach the end of the snow now and felt strange. Soon she would say goodbye to the place she knew as her pocket and dive into the unknown.

“My queen?” Eliza coughed and stammered as she tried to get Lissandra’s attention.

“Eliza what’s wrong? You seem so pale.” Lissandra looked at the girl and saw her lips were blue.

“Nothing, my Queen. I’m fine.” Lissandra didn’t buy the answer and opened her mind. There was a deep dark-blue circle blocking most of Eliza’s aura, and Lissandra immediately knew it as magic. It seemed like the cold of the icy ground was slowly being transferred to her servant.

“We’ve stopped for the night. Our tent is to be placed somewhere on the side. Luca should soon know where.” Eliza rubbed her hands over her arms and put them under her armpits afterwards as she spoke.

“Okay, I hope he comes soon, I’m longing for heat.” The two of them waited as Lissandra wondered why the wizard didn’t keep his promise, he didn’t want anyone to die either. Or, he had placed the spell on her servant before he said that.

“The king ordered me.” A deep dark voice appeared in her mind again. “I can’t undo it, even if I tried. It’s life magic, the most powerful of them all.” With that the voice disappeared again, leaving Lissandra in the dark. She was still wondering about what the wizard had said when Luca appeared from the camp.

“Eliza!” There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I thought you were with Osvar?”

“I got assigned to stay with the Queen today.” Luca looked relieved as he heard that. He wrapped his arms around Eliza and felt her cold body lean against his.

“Luca. You have to show us now where we can put the tent.” Lissandra was growing more and more concerned about Eliza as she saw that Thomas’ aura only pushed a small bit of the blue away, but not the most important part.

“Okay my Queen.” Luca rushed through the camp as Toby and Joe, Eliza’s horse, followed him. It took them a moment to pass the main fire and Luca turned left straight afterwards. The tree of them ended up at an open space surrounded by tents but yet felt the stirring cold howling through them.

“Here we are.” Lissandra was quick to take action, she unfolded her bag and put her belongings in the middle of the open place. She gestured Luca to help her to spread the tent as it already flipped open creating the shape. They were soon to put the rods on the inside and the tent was standing. Lissandra gestured both Luca and Eliza inside as she did the rest of her unpacking herself. The last thing she did was putting the second layer of the tent over the darker one, only to realise she had to fully walk around the tent to check if it was standing strong enough.

In the tent there was nearly no light, and Eliza struggled to light the candle that was in the middle. Luca wrapped his arms around hers and helped her. He felt the wind blow through the tent and pulled Eliza closer to him, shielding her. Lissandra walked in on the two of them with her saddle bags and excused herself to gather the rest of her belongings.

Endangered Journey – (4)

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Lissandra spoke the magical words in her mind, not wanting anyone to hear the magical words of her language. She didn’t trust the king nor the general to hear some of the magical words. The snow melted in a second and the party was able to continue the way down the mountain. Everyone looked surprised when they were able to move on through the path like nothing happened, but they didn’t really question it as the party had seen magic at work before at the castle.

It was something else for Lissandra though, she felt that the snow was magical and used a lot of her energy to clear out the enchantment from what she presumed was the spell of King Roland’s wizard that was somewhere in the party. She hadn’t really searched for the wizard yet, but she knew there was one in the party. She also started to believe King Roland was more than what he showed he was. Her heart told her she needed to wait for her suspicions to be confirmed till she would reach the castle. Only being in the same place for a while was a good environment to protect her own spells and to make her magic untraceable.

The party continued over the snowy pass as Lissandra became to feel really tired, it was as if someone was taking all her energy away. This was dangerous since she was the only one protecting the party from the freezing cold, unless the wizard of Roland would be able to do the same. She made sure Toby knew what she was up to as she went out of her body to check her aura from the side line. It was then that she saw the blue around herself and realised that while she moved the ice someone had enchanted her.

It seems Roland really wants to get me in his power, she thought to herself while trying to find the source of the enchantment. Lissandra knew she had to hurry up as the blue was also slowly holding on to her horse, and she didn’t want anything to happen to Toby. In the end she created a cocoon and wrapped herself around it, pushing the blue away for now. It wasn’t the ideal solution but it had to do for now. She was better off protected by her own magic, and knew it would hold to blue glow away for now. Lissandra dove back into her body and already felt some of her energy come back. It was as if she blocked the source and nodded to herself.

The rest of the day went by without something unusual happening. Lissandra was riding behind King Roland and his General, but she couldn’t make up what they were talking about. She became more and more interested in who the general was, and why he seemed so close towards Roland. While she was spending time with Roland in Yara, it seemed as if he was acting on his own, but now she grew suspicious he wasn’t at all.

The party stopped for the night when they found a flat part in the mountain. It was party covered by a rock that was oddly placed on a side of the mountain. Lissandra thought the place looked as if water had shaped the cave under it, and even though she had travelled through these mountains for years now, this place was unknown to her.

“Everyone, assemble the camp!” The voice of the General echoed through the party as the energy flow immediately changed. Lissandra watched for a few moments as the servants unpacked their horses and carriages. She enjoyed watching them rebuild the camp every night, it was done in such a fast pace and she knew these people were used travelling long distances together. The chief of the kitchen was soon on the move as well. She first helped with the others by putting up the tents they were sleeping in, but after that she looked at the proviant and assigned orders to each of her staff.

“Ivonne, please peel enough potatoes for everyone in the camp. Ask Dillan to help you.”

“Yes miss.” With that Ivonne called over to Dillan and the two of them disappeared in the tent with the proviant.

“Iris, today we will be fine with just the four of us cooking. Can you please send the others to help the soldiers assemble the rest of the party?”

“Yes miss.” Iris walked towards the other side of the kitchen’s staff area and gestured the two who were sitting next to the fire to get up and help the soldiers. Lissandra smiled as she enjoyed all the party members doing their work.

“My Queen?” Lissandra looked to the side. It was Eliza who approached her from the side. The girl looked like she was nearly freezing again, yet she was still standing.

“Yes Eliza?”

“I have found the place your tent can be set up. Would you like to follow me?” Eliza ended her sentence with a respectful bow and gestured to the edge of the camp. Lissandra nodded and followed Eliza. The two of them reached a spot on the side of the camp and nearly all out in the open.

“Here you can put your tent my Queen.”

“Thank you Eliza. Can you help me?”

“Of course my Queen.” Together the two of them gathered all the bags from Toby and pulled up the tent. Lissandra was careful to attach both sides of the tent to each other, she didn’t want any cold coming inside.

Eliza took Toby to the place they had set up for the horses and Lissandra followed him with her mind for a bit as she laid an untouchable spell on him. She fixed the last parts of her tent and awaited for Eliza to return.

“My Queen?” Luca approached Lissandra from the other side of the camp. “Won’t you be getting cold if your tent is set up here? I can’t believe the King assigned your tent to be set up here.”

“Hey there Luca. Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be fine. My tent is made out of the finest fabric of my kingdom and I will be protected against the cold.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Luca nodded and tried to find an excuse to say a little bit longer. Lissandra felt his curiosity to know more, but didn’t really know where is loyalty was yet.

“Luca, could I ask you something?”

“Of course my Queen.”

“Is there a wizard with us?” Lissandra looked Luca deep in the eyes and knew there was, but it looked as if he was scared to answer that question.

“Luca!” Eliza’s voice sounded from not so far away as she ran towards him and gave him a hug.

“Eliza!” He returned the hug with the same pleasure as he wrapped her hands around his friend. “Are you alright?” The two of them seemed to completely forget Lissandra was watching them and were just speaking openly with each other.

“I am, don’t worry Luca.” She patted him on the head as her glove seemed to shake a bit.

“Are you sure about that Eliza?” Luca looked concerned as he worried about his friend.

“I am Luca. I’ve been alright other than the fact I am serving Osvar during the day. He’s a total jerk and I can’t understand how people keep up with him.”

“He is a jerk, but holds an important place in our party, you’ll have to live with it for now.” Luca rubbed Eliza’s arms as he spoke only to keep her in his embrace after.

“So this is your friend Eliza?” Lissandra smiled. It now all made sense why a seventeen-year-old had volunteered for the job of her maiden.

“Uh. Yes, my Queen.” Eliza stammered. She didn’t exactly know what to say anymore and realised she had been very rude ignoring the Queen as she spoke to Luca.

“He seems lovely. And if you two will excuse me now.” Lissandra turned around as she saw Eliza shiver again. When she looked more closely she found out that Eliza’s aura was completely blue instead of the bright colour it had been when they first met. “Can I trust the two of you?”

“Yes my Queen.” Eliza immediately said. She poked Luca as he never answered, but he seemed far away in thought.

“It would be dangerous to trust you, my Queen. If word got out the Queen has already made allies with some of the party members, King Roland will kill us, I am sure of that.” Lissandra nodded, she knew Luca was right. “Then again, I have never been such a follower of King Roland, so you can trust me.”

With that out of the way Lissandra gestured to Eliza’s hand and she showed them to the Queen. She blew on Eliza’s hands, and she immediately felt the heat spread through her body.

“Fire and ice be no more, cold blue go back to your hole.” Lissandra left out a sigh as the spell drained her energy, but was satisfied with the result. Eliza stopped shivering and gained some colour back on her skin.

“Thank you, my Queen.” She bowed and nodded gratefully.

“You’re very welcome Eliza. Now, listen closely, both of you. I don’t want a word out of how powerful my magic is, understood?” Lissandra stared at the two of them, waiting for an answer.

Eliza and Luca nodded in agreement knowing the importance of these things. The three of them parted ways not long after. Eliza went back to the Queen’s tent to enjoy the heat, while Luca resumed his guarding duties. Lissandra however had something else planned. She knew she had to rest at some point because of all the magic she had been using today, but couldn’t leave the problem of the wizard aside. She was quite sure that Osvar guy was the wizard in the party, but she needed confirmation.

Lissandra moved towards the main fire as she opened up her mind. The whole camp seemed at ease, and there was no rush for anything. She however was on guard all the time, as she knew how difficult it would be to spot the wizard out. As the main fire got closer she nearly checked each tent within the area and knew the wizard had to be at one of the fires.

“My lady. You’re just in time to join us for dinner.” The head of the kitchen staff rushed towards her holding a plate with potatoes and other vegetable. They were native vegetable from Linea, and Lissandra hoped they would taste just as good as they did at home.  

“That sounds wonderful! Lissandra sat down close to the fire and accepted the plate. Her mouth got filled with the different tastes from her homeland and she hoped someone would take the effort to make more of the dishes in her homeland.

“It’s delicious, like home.”

“I tried to follow the recipe the farmers gave me, my lady. I hoped it turned out good.”

“It really did. It’s been a long time since I ate it like this.”

“It pleases me to hear this my lady.” With that the chief of the kitchen returned to her staff and made sure everyone would get food. Lissandra stayed at the fire even after she had given her plate to one of them.

The different shifts of the guards walked in and got provided with food as well. Lissandra listened to their stories as they talked about their mates back home, and the others they left behind.

Endangered Journey – (3)

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Lissandra spoke the magical words in her mind, not wanting anyone to hear the magical words of her language. She didn’t trust the king nor the general to hear some of the magical words. The snow melted in a second and the party was able to continue the way down the mountain. Everyone looked surprised when they were able to move on through the path like nothing happened, but they didn’t really question it as the party had seen magic at work before at the castle.

It was something else for Lissandra though, she felt that the snow was magical and used a lot of her energy to clear out the enchantment from what she presumed was the spell of King Roland’s wizard that was somewhere in the party. She hadn’t really searched for the wizard yet, but she knew there was one in the party. She also started to believe King Roland was more than what he showed he was. Her heart told her she needed to wait for her suspicions to be confirmed till she would reach the castle. Only being in the same place for a while was a good environment to protect her own spells and to make her magic untraceable.

The party continued over the snowy pass as Lissandra became to feel really tired, it was as if someone was taking all her energy away. This was dangerous since she was the only one protecting the party from the freezing cold, unless the wizard of Roland would be able to do the same. She made sure Toby knew what she was up to as she went out of her body to check her aura from the side line. It was then that she saw the blue around herself and realised that while she moved the ice someone had enchanted her.

It seems Roland really wants to get me in his power, she thought to herself while trying to find the source of the enchantment. Lissandra knew she had to hurry up as the blue was also slowly holding on to her horse, and she didn’t want anything to happen to Toby. In the end she created a cocoon and wrapped herself around it, pushing the blue away for now. It wasn’t the ideal solution but it had to do for now. She was better off protected by her own magic, and knew it would hold to blue glow away for now. Lissandra dove back into her body and already felt some of her energy come back. It was as if she blocked the source and nodded to herself.

The rest of the day went by without something unusual happening. Lissandra was riding behind King Roland and his General, but she couldn’t make up what they were talking about. She became more and more interested in who the general was, and why he seemed so close towards Roland. While she was spending time with Roland in Yara, it seemed as if he was acting on his own, but now she grew suspicious he wasn’t at all.

The party stopped for the night when they found a flat part in the mountain. It was party covered by a rock that was oddly placed on a side of the mountain. Lissandra thought the place looked as if water had shaped the cave under it, and even though she had travelled through these mountains for years now, this place was unknown to her.

“Everyone, assemble the camp!” The voice of the General echoed through the party as the energy flow immediately changed. Lissandra watched for a few moments as the servants unpacked their horses and carriages. She enjoyed watching them rebuild the camp every night, it was done in such a fast pace and she knew these people were used travelling long distances together. The chief of the kitchen was soon on the move as well. She first helped with the others by putting up the tents they were sleeping in, but after that she looked at the proviant and assigned orders to each of her staff.

“Ivonne, please peel enough potatoes for everyone in the camp. Ask Dillan to help you.”

“Yes miss.” With that Ivonne called over to Dillan and the two of them disappeared in the tent with the proviant.

“Iris, today we will be fine with just the four of us cooking. Can you please send the others to help the soldiers assemble the rest of the party?”

“Yes miss.” Iris walked towards the other side of the kitchen’s staff area and gestured the two who were sitting next to the fire to get up and help the soldiers. Lissandra smiled as she enjoyed all the party members doing their work.

“My Queen?” Lissandra looked to the side. It was Eliza who approached her from the side. The girl looked like she was nearly freezing again, yet she was still standing.

“Yes Eliza?”

“I have found the place your tent can be set up. Would you like to follow me?” Eliza ended her sentence with a respectful bow and gestured to the edge of the camp. Lissandra nodded and followed Eliza. The two of them reached a spot on the side of the camp and nearly all out in the open.

“Here you can put your tent my Queen.”

“Thank you Eliza. Can you help me?”

“Of course my Queen.” Together the two of them gathered all the bags from Toby and pulled up the tent. Lissandra was careful to attach both sides of the tent to each other, she didn’t want any cold coming inside.

Eliza took Toby to the place they had set up for the horses and Lissandra followed him with her mind for a bit as she laid an untouchable spell on him. She fixed the last parts of her tent and awaited for Eliza to return.

“My Queen?” Luca approached Lissandra from the other side of the camp. “Won’t you be getting cold if your tent is set up here? I can’t believe the King assigned your tent to be set up here.”

“Hey there Luca. Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be fine. My tent is made out of the finest fabric of my kingdom and I will be protected against the cold.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Luca nodded and tried to find an excuse to say a little bit longer. Lissandra felt his curiosity to know more, but didn’t really know where is loyalty was yet.

“Luca, could I ask you something?”

“Of course my Queen.”

“Is there a wizard with us?” Lissandra looked Luca deep in the eyes and knew there was, but it looked as if he was scared to answer that question.

“Luca!” Eliza’s voice sounded from not so far away as she ran towards him and gave him a hug.

“Eliza!” He returned the hug with the same pleasure as he wrapped her hands around his friend. “Are you alright?” The two of them seemed to completely forget Lissandra was watching them and were just speaking openly with each other.

“I am, don’t worry Luca.” She patted him on the head as her glove seemed to shake a bit.

“Are you sure about that Eliza?” Luca looked concerned as he worried about his friend.

“I am Luca. I’ve been alright other than the fact I am serving Osvar during the day. He’s a total jerk and I can’t understand how people keep up with him.”

“He is a jerk, but holds an important place in our party, you’ll have to live with it for now.” Luca rubbed Eliza’s arms as he spoke only to keep her in his embrace after.

“So this is your friend Eliza?” Lissandra smiled. It now all made sense why a seventeen-year-old had volunteered for the job of her maiden.

“Uh. Yes, my Queen.” Eliza stammered. She didn’t exactly know what to say anymore and realised she had been very rude ignoring the Queen as she spoke to Luca.

“He seems lovely. And if you two will excuse me now.” Lissandra turned around as she saw Eliza shiver again. When she looked more closely she found out that Eliza’s aura was completely blue instead of the bright colour it had been when they first met. “Can I trust the two of you?”

“Yes my Queen.” Eliza immediately said. She poked Luca as he never answered, but he seemed far away in thought.

“It would be dangerous to trust you, my Queen. If word got out the Queen has already made allies with some of the party members, King Roland will kill us, I am sure of that.” Lissandra nodded, she knew Luca was right. “Then again, I have never been such a follower of King Roland, so you can trust me.”

With that out of the way Lissandra gestured to Eliza’s hand and she showed them to the Queen. She blew on Eliza’s hands, and she immediately felt the heat spread through her body.

“Fire and ice be no more, cold blue go back to your hole.” Lissandra left out a sigh as the spell drained her energy, but was satisfied with the result. Eliza stopped shivering and gained some colour back on her skin.

“Thank you, my Queen.” She bowed and nodded gratefully.

“You’re very welcome Eliza. Now, listen closely, both of you. I don’t want a word out of how powerful my magic is, understood?” Lissandra stared at the two of them, waiting for an answer.

Eliza and Luca nodded in agreement knowing the importance of these things. The three of them parted ways not long after. Eliza went back to the Queen’s tent to enjoy the heat, while Luca resumed his guarding duties. Lissandra however had something else planned. She knew she had to rest at some point because of all the magic she had been using today, but couldn’t leave the problem of the wizard aside. She was quite sure that Osvar guy was the wizard in the party, but she needed confirmation.

Lissandra moved towards the main fire as she opened up her mind. The whole camp seemed at ease, and there was no rush for anything. She however was on guard all the time, as she knew how difficult it would be to spot the wizard out. As the main fire got closer she nearly checked each tent within the area and knew the wizard had to be at one of the fires.

“My lady. You’re just in time to join us for dinner.” The head of the kitchen staff rushed towards her holding a plate with potatoes and other vegetable. They were native vegetable from Linea, and Lissandra hoped they would taste just as good as they did at home.  

“That sounds wonderful! Lissandra sat down close to the fire and accepted the plate. Her mouth got filled with the different tastes from her homeland and she hoped someone would take the effort to make more of the dishes in her homeland.

“It’s delicious, like home.”

“I tried to follow the recipe the farmers gave me, my lady. I hoped it turned out good.”

“It really did. It’s been a long time since I ate it like this.”

“It pleases me to hear this my lady.” With that the chief of the kitchen returned to her staff and made sure everyone would get food. Lissandra stayed at the fire even after she had given her plate to one of them.

The different shifts of the guards walked in and got provided with food as well. Lissandra listened to their stories as they talked about their mates back home, and the others they left behind.