The Marked

Chapter One

I picked up a mixing bowl and stirred in the small grains of flint with the aloe and hoped silently that this would work. Once I was sure that the flint was evenly distributed throughout the cream I added one more important ingredient, a pinch of myth. This would assure that everything would go smoothly. I dipped my middle finger in and rubbed the potion against my thumb.

I took a deep breathe and watched carefully as I snapped my slippery fingers. My excitment sparked with my fingers as tiny embers shot out of my finger tips and left behind a tiny flame that hovered above the tip of my thumb. A smile graced my features as I watched the heat dance.

"Violet!" I crushed the fire beneath my fist and quickly turned my attention to Maev, an elder women with long light brown hair that shimmered just below her chest and piercing ice blue eyes.

"Yes?" I question with an innocent look on my face.

"Why aren't you in your lesson?" she asks, I shrug as I walk away to find a container for my new success.

"I'd rather teach myself spells," I tell her absently as I examine an old empty ointment container. I brushed away the dust and residue from the old potion and walked back over to the table I was working at.

"It's safer to go to lessons,"

"It's easier to self teach. I can trial and error without being judged by those snobs who can't even pronounce their spells right,"

"Don't make fun Violet they are all learning just like you," she scolds. I roll my eyes,

"I still want to self teach," I say stubbornly. She sighs at my defiance.

"Violet I fret you spend to much time alone,"

"I do not, I spend time with Anise and Raine almost everyday," I argue. What was so wrong with wanting to be independent from time to time.

"And both Anise and Raine go to their lessons,"

"They also learn at a slower pace than I,"

"You just have to be patient,"

"I'm patient with myself and that's what should count," I counter before I pour the gritty cream into it's new container. The thought of chilling the substance to make it thicker crossed my mind as I ignored the speech Maev was trying to give me.

"What is this concoction you've conjured up?" she asks, waving her hand towards the jar.

"Ignis," I say with a proud smile I my face.

"Fire?" her face contorts with confusion.

"Yes, its made with a mixture of aloe, grains of flint, and myth," I explain as I take a small drop of it on my finger and create a demonstration. She watches, her eyes wandering my actions with curiosity. Her eyes widen as she sees the flame arise from my fingertips.

"Violet where'd you learn this?"

"I made it up myself," she keeps quiet for a few moments looking as if she was holding back more questions.

"Well clean up your mess. Dinner will be ready within the hour," she says curtly before turning away, her cloak trailing behind her as she disappears through the door from which she came.

Her demeanor seemed a little strange before she left, but I wasn't worried I'm sure she was just busy. I clean up any extra materials and put them back on their proper shelves before snatching the jar and my spells book from the table as I departed the warehouse.

The late afternoon air was a bit moist, warning signs of the rain to come, and a warm breeze teased my dark locks with its airy fingers. A screeching cry echoed across the sky and I glanced up to see a flock of griffens soaring over the village.