Magical

Magical - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

First Magic Lesson: Grow Flowers With Your Cat

            I was unsure of what exactly was going on, but I followed Alume through the halls of the castle. “Are you all right, Carina?” He asked, looking back at me. “You look pale…”

            “Oh…yes. It’s just a lot to take in at once.”

            “Understandable…” He didn’t push the subject. I was definitely in shock with everything. It was only this morning that I was safe in my house, just an ordinary girl, nothing special. There were no dragons, witches, or talking animals. Half of me wanted to go back to that life. But the other half was excited and felt like a fantasy of mine was finally manifesting itself. To deny this opportunity would be denying something I’ve claimed to have wanted since I was little. A little more adventure in my life.

            “Alume, is this all going to be dangerous?” I’m not sure why I asked the question as I already knew the answer, but I needed reassurance. We arrived back at the door to my room and he jumped onto my bed.

            “I don’t mean to be blunt with you Carina, but yes. Even if you do succeed in your training, a battle with a dragon lord isn’t going to be a walk in the park. You need to be prepared for the difficulty and danger in your future.” He yawned and curled up on one of my pillows. “I know that you’re scared now, Carina. But I’m sure there’s a brave warrior somewhere hidden in there. You’ll just have to coax her out.”

            I had trouble falling asleep that night. It was a rough night to say the least. I was plagued with nightmares of dragons, fire, and a lot of screaming. The next morning, I woke to Alume meowing annoyingly in my face. “Oh come on! Really?” I mumbled, opening my eyes to see him standing over me. “Still? Even when I know you can talk?”

            “Well…” he said sheepishly, “it always woke you up before. Why fix something that’s not broken?”

            After getting dressed in clothes I found in the wardrobe, I followed Alume down the hall. I heard my stomach grumble. “How do you know your way around the castle, anyway?” He gave a shrug-like motion.

            “I don’t. I’m just hungry and following my nose.” I let out a chuckle. Alume’s nose led us right into the kitchen where I met the castle’s cook Abigail, a chubby gnome with curly blonde hair and an attitude. She used a stool to see in the pot she was cooking in as she ordered around her much taller kitchen assistant, Grunt. Grunt was something I would relate very much to an ogre, though he never did specify. His skin had a greenish tinge to it, his head was bulbous with small eyes and a very large nose. His teeth were crooked and yellowed. Normally, I would have been terrified of something that looked like him, but seeing him bossed around by little Abigail made me giggle.

“So you’re the new little witch everyone’s been talking about!” I normally would have taken offense to that statement, but I figured that in Atra, it wasn’t meant to be insulting. “I’m glad you’re here, the king has been going insane these past few months. He kept worrying that Alume wouldn’t be able to get you here or that you just wouldn’t come home. It was horrible. He would wake up in the middle of the night wanting snacks to keep his mind occupied. I’m hoping that now you’re here he’ll sleep better.” I wasn’t sure how to take that. I didn’t understand why he would’ve been worried to the point of losing sleep. We spoke for a little longer about what she was thinking of cooking for dinner and Alume seemed to be drooling (which I didn’t even know cats could do…).  

Abigail seemed sweet enough until she was in “cooking-mode”. She shooed me out into the dining hall where King Caius sat, reading a book. He looked up at the sound of the door and smiled.