The Kingdoms of Strinnlad (Book One): The Rise of Magic

FOURTEEN

A young girl walked into her kitchen and towards a large metal pot on the counter. With a wooden cup in hand, she scooped up some water and took a sip. Her head was hurting again. The cool water offered some relief.

"Alyss!" called her parents from upstairs. The girl put her cup of water down and walked up the steep, creaky staircase to her parent's bedroom.

"Yes?" she called as she reached the second floor. Alyss turned left and entered a spacious room. Her mother and father were sitting cross-legged on a thick purple carpet on the wooden floor, holding each other's hands, their eyes closed.

This was their regular daily routine. As seers, Alyss was used to her parents being occupied with work all day. They would combine their powers to do jobs for people. Sometimes, they would pursue their own inquiries, though Alyss never really knew what they were up to. From a young age, she had become accustomed to sorting herself out and doing her parents' bidding when they called for her. Being neither a pure seer like her parents nor a pure healer like her other relatives, Alyss found herself stuck in the in-between. With no natural oracle gift like her parents, she had had to work harder to hone in on her seering powers. Most of the time, however, she resorted to all she had learned about healing.

"Bring us the three wizards that will arrive in Tornbridge in due time," instructed the woman.

"Yes, mother," she answered obediently. Alyss walked back downstairs, wondering whether her life could get any more uneventful. It felt as though her whole life consisted of her studies and the tasks her parents set for her.

"And tie your hair up," shouted her mother as she arrived at the bottom of the stairs. She could just hear her add, "useless girl."

***

Cleo woke up and stretched. After having entered another forest, they had set up camp. With their sleeping bags, they had formed a circle by some bushes next to a cedar tree.

She woke Rhys and Quinn, and they started walking on. Somewhere along the way,

Cleo dug into her bag and found a parcel of grains with barley, currants, and pistachios. Although it was cold, she needed something to quench her roaring stomach. Cleo offered the boys some, and they happily wolfed down a couple of handfuls of it.

They resumed, trudging through the undergrowth, with Rhys in front. He used his sword, extended in front of him, to clear the path, cutting through bushes.

"So now we have to get the Ice Amulet?" asked Quinn.

"Yep," replied Cleo. "I've actually been thinking about it, and I think we should make a stop before Ice Mountain."

"Oh, really?" said Quinn.

"Yeah."

"Rhys?" she called. He turned around and walked up to them.

"Yeah?" he asked brightly, his eyes smiling kindly.

"I think that we should stop at Tornbridge before Ice Mountain," she said, opening up the flap of her satchel. She pulled out the folded up map.

"See, here," she continued. Rhys and Quinn looked closely over her shoulder from either side of her. "Tornbridge is slightly east of our path, but we need to stop somewhere for food and water."

"That makes sense," replied Rhys, nodding. Their bags had been getting lighter and lighter. The food from the elves had completely run out, and they only had a few more parcels of food from the druids.

"How much time will it cost us?" inquired Quinn.

"I'd say around two or three more sundowns than if we took the direct route to Ice Mountain," she responded, folding the map back up.