Magic Storm

chapter 1- the first ring and a nice cup of hot chocolte

 Stormbriger of West Wind pulled her black with gold trim cloak tightly around her to protect her from the falling snow. It had been a particularly long walk through the forest, and she was as frozen as an icicle. But in her arms she held the book of Nameless Magic, one of the only magic books left in the world.

But it was not the book itself that Storm had been stopping around in the snow for, but instead she was exited for what she it had hidden in between pages 15-16. Between those pages was a simple gold ring that held the power of flight.  The ring had been named the ring of flight, a good name for this ring considering it gave whom ever wore it the power to fly. Wizards were able to levitate, but to actually fly? It was not possible, unless you were wearing the ring.

Storm knew there were three rings, the ring of flight which she now had possession of, the ring of Heart; it gives the wearer the power to heal anyone or anything, and the ring of Souls, that gives the wearer the power to kill anybody, just by having the wearer touch the person. The tricky part about the rings where not where or when you wore it but who wore it, for each ring was designed for one person and was passed through generations, so only that person’s family could wear it. The Wind family, in particular the West Wind side of the family, had the job of protecting the ring of flight. Storm had no clue what other families possessed the power to wield the rings but she was determined to find them and reunite the rings and their keepers.

Storm drew closer to the castle, and she was able to make out the tiny lights of the candles that flickered in the windows of the tall, narrow, houses clustered against the castles walls. The candles were put up to keep the dark a bay until dawn when the sun would give light to the people. Storm had always loved the walk to the castle and city. She had no fear of the forest and enjoyed the long peaceful walk along the narrow track that threaded its way through dense trees for mile after mile. Storm was near the edge of the forest now and was approaching the lights of the city wall.

The castle had started out with a small town that surrounded it. The villagers had built a wall to protect from vampires, ogres, and other beasts that lived in the forest. As more houses were built, the wall was extended and a moat dug to keep the villagers safe. Along the west side of the city the wall had fallen and someone had decided to build a couple of well spaced buildings that sat on the edge over looking the moat. The houses were called The Towers and had the only unguarded bridge into the city.

Storm lived in house number 412 in The Towers by herself since two years ago when her parents were killed by the King for possession of magic and magical items. Before then her family had still lived in house 412, back then the rooms were pilled high with magic books, charms, spells, and an assortment of other magical items. House 412 was a good three stories high and very large. House 412 was originally a vibrant red with a gold door, but when Storm and her family had moved in it was down with the old and up with the new.

House 412 of The Towers was white with forest green trim and had a barn red door. The golden numbers and letters fashioned on the door read 412 the house of the Wind family a family of powerful wizards. The Wind family had once been royal wizards and then the new King (who everyone called the Nonsalvationer) came to rule and the Wind family had been down-graded, then the ban of magic appeared and the rest of the Wind family disappeared with it. Well, not all of the rest of the Wind family, for Storm lived. Storm’s parents had hidden her in the cellar when the Nonsalvationer had come to take them away.

Now Storm put her large key into the beaten up old lock and unlocked the door. She quickly glanced behind her to ensure no one was watching and slipped into the white house with green trim, locking the door behind her.

Storm walked with purpose down the faded entry hall and turned at the third door way on the left into a two story library that toward above her head. The library featured two large windows that were covered by a set of thick velvet curtains, that hadn’t been moved for years so they were covered in dust. Between the windows was a huge fire place that was taller than Storm, above it was a huge painting of a white wolf with gold eyes in front of a forest.  The library was round with a wooden floor that was barley seeable under the piles of books that littered the floor. Large stacks of books towered over Storm as she made her way through the room, not the tiniest bit disturbed that the shelves were just as or more packed with books than the floor.

Storm slipped between two particularly tall piles of books and continued through the huge maze of books until she finally reached the stairway which was hidden behind a door that was right next to one of the wall bookcases that was two stories high and only a couple of steps from the window to the left of the fire place. Storm quickly muttered the unlock spell under her breath and took a step back as the old oak door swung open, propelled by her magic.

Storm climbed quickly up the beaten oak stair case listing to the familiar creaks of the old stairs as she made her way to her room. Storm pushed the ebony door, at the end of the stair way, open into her small four sided room. Her walls were plain white and her bed was a hammock she had hung from one wall to another. The room’s floor was littered with books some old and some new. Storm carefully stepped over the piles of books until she reached a chest at the end of her room. She opened the unlocked chest quickly and pulled out a long katana. The Katana would have been rusted and beaten up if Storm had not spent at least an hour every week sharpening it. It was one of the only possessions Storm had from her parents. Storm fastened the katana to her belt and let her black with gold trim cloak shift back into place hiding it from view.

Then Storm turned around and headed back down the old oak stair case. Storm opened the door to the library and swiftly dodged stalks of books of all colors, shapes, sizes, and age. Storm slowly maneuvered around the books until she reached a comfy chair that was in front of the fire place and a wooden side table that held a lamp and a coaster or two for hot chocolate. At one point the library had been clean; there had been several couches, a large glass table in the middle, and several more coasters. Storm had sold the couches, the glass table was covered with books, and Storm seemed to have a knack for losing the thin wooden coasters. Storm idly sat down in the chair and with – told the fireplace to light, and much to her delight the fire place quickly lit itself. Storm felt at ease in the chair with the fire going and was now craving a good mug full of hot chocolate. So turning to the kettle, which she always kept by the fire place, she instructed it to make hot chocolate.

Most spells needed charms if they were for making food, being used for the first time, doing something frivolous, or a very hard spell to remember. Accounting for that information one can see how hard it was for Storm to find the make hot chocolate spell, mostly because it was not in need of a charm.

But now Storm watched contently as the kettle filled itself with hot chocolate and set about the task of heating it’s self up. Storm suddenly felt waves of weariness wash over her and she realized how tiered she actually was. Storm quickly leafed through the pages of the thick magic book she had been lugging around and pulled out the gold ring. She stuffed the ring in her cloak pocket and placed the book on the side table. Then she curled up in the arm chair in front of the fire. Storm was asleep before the hot chocolate was ready, so there she sat, soaked to the bone, in her library, with unfinished hot chocolate, happily asleep…

Little did she know that out side the snow had turned into a thunder storm and that she would not be asleep for long…

For it was not the rain or thunder that was going to wake her but instead Storm would awake to the crash of something coming through her window; Something that needed her more than she needed it, something that would change her life forever…