Tales of the Magi [Free IC]

Rebirth


The sun was setting, the air chilly in the autumn evening and the sky a match color with the slowly falling leaves of Redmoor forest. The village, Redleaf, was starting to close it's gates, the militia patrolling around the village to make sure no one was doing something stupid and nothing nasty would enter the village. Looming near the village was the tower of Carnor at the shores of the Red Lake. A tall thing from nigh forgotten era, no mortal hand being able to build in 500 years time. Yellow light illuminated from the windows of the large structure, the mages and apprentices within just finishing their teachings for today, apprentices and mages alike going to spend their time in research, supper and/or conversing with each other. Some apprentices would be able to stay in the library or being in the common rooms where they may show off some minor spells to their piers.

Paladins guarded the entrance to the tower and wearing grand and magnificent armor and wielded long glaives with tower shields. Within the first few stories of the tower were more paladins tasked to guard the mages from the outside and the outside from the mages. The captain of the paladins at the tower of Carnor was old Morgan, a gruff man in his 40's and was the kind of person that didn't like mages but dutiful and not unreasonable.

Within the library sat one of the Hakedian students, Kain. He brushed through the pages of his book about the fundamentals about the elements. His focus was in the manipulation of the destructive elements of lightning and fire though he liked to dabble in other things. He looked up from his book and up at the large bookcases and thought about the secrets each page held. He might live hundreds of years and barely be able to scratch the surface of the knowledge that the library held in each dusty tome and scroll. That made him think of the Trial. He was told that he was ready for it and had chosen to take it but never told when it would begin. It's been two weeks since he was ready. He sighed and continued to read but paid little attention to it. He then decided to try out the spell he had learned in his most recent teachings. Telekinesis wasn't his forte. He closed the book and he started to direct his will into the spell and cast it on the book. It started to levitate off the table but slowly. He concentrated on the spell and the book was above his head and he tried another object, his quill. It usually didn't mind the weight of the object but lifting multiple objects was where he usually failed. He tried as hard as he could and soon enough the quill lifted too, flowing upwards to be with the book. He smiled and cheered, unraveling his concentration and the book landed with a thud on his head and clattered onto the table. He rubbed his head, his horns having taken most of the impact so it hadn't hurt too much. He tail flicked against the stone floor as he stood up and gathered his things. He was hungry and hoped he'd be able to have access to the kitchen. He place his book back where it belonged and trailed his fingers over the books. Again his thoughts went to their hidden knowledge but they trailed off to their darker side. The forbidden magics. Killing was a sin punishable by death. Sure, lightning and fire could be used to kill but they were in the grey area of the laws.

He quickly pushed the thoughts aside and looked around the library and at the other apprentices. The hairs at the back of his neck then rose and he quickly looked around and he thought he saw a darting shadow at the corner of his eye but a quick look revealed no source of the shadow. "I must be too hungry" he thought to himself and shrugged.

Jett's anger got the best of him again, there he was standing in the hallway holding a fellow student against the wall with one hand giving him a punch with the other. ''You guys really think you can keep provoking me the whole time, but this time I'm not going easy on you anymore''. Jett was lowering his right hand with open palm, about to cast a spell. But just before he started someone grabbed him by his arm, ''YOU FOOL'' the voice said. It was a Paladin but not just any Paladin, it was Geoffry, Jett his dads best (old) friend. and dragged him away from the other student.

''Wanting to use magic like that here? really!? you know what the penalty for that is!'' Geoffry said. ''Like I care, he deserved it'' Jett said, ''You should be ashamed of yourself, if only you tried to keep your families name up, you're a disgrace to the man that your father was!''. ''Shut up, you don't know anything about him!''. ''Oh believe me kiddo I knew your dad better then anyone, you're lucky that I'm the one catching you. I won't tell the Archmage about the fact that you wanted to use magic. Now go to your room and go to sleep''.

Jett walked away angrily, if only he could have taken that guy down, they wouldn't mess with him anymore. Suddenly he froze, what was that over there? When he watched towards the corner, it was gone. ''Geoffry was right, I probably need some sleep. This exhausted me'', when in the room he put on his pyjamas and layed down on bed putting the lights out. ''what was that from before?'' he thought, before he fell asleep.

Serenity kept her gaze on her book, but was too distracted to care. She killed. She felt like a murderer. She sat in the chair and slumped down. She brushed her long blonde hair back as she remembered the events that took place.

FLASHBACK
She looked down at the dead dog, fury in her eyes. She heard yelling behind her and she instantly came back into reality. She backed away from the dead dog, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her master slapped her in the face and yelled "you did this! You! You murderer! You are going to go to hell for what you did!"
END OF FLASHBACK

She wiped away tears that fell. She went back to reading her boring book and sighed.

The small cloaked figure, Audriella, leaned against the counter, biting into and apple. Today is so dull.....I need something to do. Like now. She thought with a small sigh. She pushed herself up off the counter and threw the apple core, aiming for the trash can but failing miserably. She sighed once more and sauntered over, bending over and grabbing it before tossing it into the trash. Her brown eyes scanned the kitchen for anything interesting but found nothing, til she noticed a slight movement in her far peripheral vision. She spun on her heel to look for whatever it was but found nothing, "Whatever." She sighed.

Kain stretched and yawned, putting away his books and then his eyes came across a blonde girl. Kain tilted his head and could've sworn she was an elf but when he approached her he felt the familiar Aura. Hakedian he thought and then he noticed her wiping away a tear and his head tilted the other way, his eyebrow rising a little and his tail flicking once. "Hey...are you alright" He asked, taking a seat infront of her and noticed the book she was reading. He put on his friendliest smile and leaned back in the chair.

Serenity's head snapped up and she had a dear-in-the-headlights look. She nodded. "Y-yes. I'm fine" she said quietly. "I just read a rather sad part in the book is all." She realized she was reading a book that was titled "Animals and Healing". She quickly hid the book away. "Hello." She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She wasn't used to people talking to her, let alone asking her if she was alright. She slumped down in her seat slightly.

"Hey" Kain said, his head tilting slightly and his eyebrow arched. "I'm Kain, I think I've seen you around here, in some classes maybe" He said to her, shrugging his shoulders.

She smiled crookedly. "Yeah. You seem familiar. I guess I don't really pay attention to things since I'm a bit... awkward." She laughed nervously. "It's nice to meet you, though." She gave him a soft smile.

"Awkward or not, you seem nice yourself" Kain said with a wider smile. "Have you been in the tower for long?" He then asked. "Also...did you notice a shadow or something fly by?" he added, his smiling fading somewhat.

She blushed slightly when he said she was nice, but it quickly faded. "No, I haven't been in the tower for long. I lived somewhere else for a while." Her expression turned from sad to curious in a flash. "A shadow? No, I've been reading." She gave him a small smile.