“Alright then Allue, this enchanted effigy is done” I said, holding up the jade green stag idol I have carved as an advance lesson. He nodded and smiled with approval and stored it away. Meanwhile Darronuth was dashing his beady little eyes with jealousy again ever since I started working for Allue, bemoaning that agreement I had with Allue. I think he hadn’t realized that I am soon going to work on my own. Ignorant and frustrated, he hasn’t left his stage of apprenticeship while I had excelled my knowledge of magic over the past month and a half, preforming spells and crafting charms that would have taken years to master. Perhaps Darronuth was simply envious of my innate intelligence; an intelligence that, prior to all this, I didn’t know about. The murky green swamp of envy was quickly dispelled when Allue gave his ominous stare.
“Darronuth…avert your eyes…”
Darronuth cowered frozen in place, the weight of his guilt crashes through his spine and nearly collapses. Then he slips away in silence.
“Forgive him for his youth. He has much to learn about respecting one’s talents.”
“I understand Allue, I have to face the same with Adonia.”
A twitch of curiosity spurs in me.
“Come now Adraman. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Well, I was wondering how did Drignol could have able to give me the gift of the Elven Language in one solitary moment yet everyone else had to learn the language from scratch”
“Ah! You see everything is connected to everything else. You understand that clearly. However, some things have better connections than others. Where you connect your divinity and pious nature from your Lords and Ladies, Christ, The Virgin Mary, the Sphere of Seraphs, etc, Dringol and we get ours from the spirits of the forests and nature. But you and Dringol are well alike in virtue. You two can ascend high enough in the clouds of wisdom and knowledge so that terrestrial languages seem alien and all is left is the universal language of magic and the soul. While you are quite high up with the soul, you are unfortunately not there yet for magic and therefore, cannot simply offer the language onto someone else.”
“But what about the rest of my people? What about Adonia? Are their souls able to transcend their mortal forms?”
As for everyone else, they aren’t as high up as you are. Their souls are in need noble, but yours is a special kind of nobility, a kind that could transcend your original form. Elves believe in that certain kinds of powerful spirits take hold of certain special souls. Those spirits reveal themselves as their true nature through the mortal’s thoughts, words, and deeds. And once the mortal dies, the imbued soul rises to live again in a much more powerful and greater form.”
“I understand now Allue, thank you for this.”
Allue smiles and then turns his attention to a small dark purple, hollow crystal container. He carefully opened it to reveal a silver necklace of a sun with a leave carved in the center. His eyes fixate towards the charm and then place the necklace into the container.
“I have but one last request from you before I announce you as a free, educated, and independent practitioner of advance magic. There is a mountain on the far southeast corner of this city. Its outside the city gates so be careful of hazards outside. There is an old, blind seer who lives on the south façade of the mountain. Your task is to let her see once more. This shall test you on not only your knowledge in almost every branch of magic, but as well as your morals, your wisdom, and your very soul. Be warned that the eyes of the spirits are everywhere, watching your every move. They do not take traveling on this range a light, entertaining ordeal. These peaks and valleys have been sacred to the elven way of life since creation. Normally I wouldn’t trust an outsider on such a task but by what you have shown me these past weeks, you are more than deserving of this test. Do not let your people down. “
Allue hands me a satchel filled with everything needed to complete the course including a map, a compass, a book of useful, miscellaneous spells and potion recipes, 2 vials of healing potions and 2 empty vials, and a bow with 15 arrows.
“caelitus mihi vires” I murmur
“What does that mean in your Language?” Allue asks in wonder
“My strength is from Heaven” I answer
Allue noddes his head as I wave goodbye with my supplies. The Darronuth comes back slowly as he wonders what just happen.
“Darronuth, fetch me more salamanders!” He barked
“But I already gave you a jarful of them!” He cried
“Then make it two jars! Three Jars! A million Jars! Enough to have you learn respect! This is not your business to know!”
I arrived home to find Adonia messing around with her powers of ice again. She couldn’t have branched out into other forms of elemental, in fact any, types of magic. It seems she has only one power in her, the power of frost. She had already made two gaping holes in the floor from falling stalactites. She nearly was about have a hanging garden cut off from hits supports had I came to stop her.
“Adonia! Hold! Yeild! I shouted
“Oops, sorry. “ Her face blushed with embracement.
The rest of the group had managed well to assimilate to the Elven culture. There are hanging gardens which will provide a hearty harvest come fall. Some even decided to advance themselves as artisan apprentices, ranging from blacksmithing to pottery.
“Adonia, please go around calling everyone to gather around at the tree base.”
She nodded and proceeded to alert the populous.
Everyone was flabbergasted at the news of the test. All wanted me to take the much simpler approach and spend a few more years working for Allue before being an independent magus. Yet I was stubborn in my decision. Of course, no one was more worried than Adonia, who literally cried out as she did for her lost parents.
“Please don’t go! I already have lost my loved ones already! I can’t lose the one I have now!”
“I am sorry but the fates call for it. I shall leave first thing in the morning. The angels will watch over me my fellow countrymen and women. If I don’t come back, look for me when you pray to Heaven.”
Everyone gave a big sign of loss and fear. Adonia kept on crying the whole time. Then something snapped in her.
“Well if you love your skills more than me, then why must I bother you anymore!?!” She screamed as she ran away into the foliage.
“Adonia! Wait!” I screamed back as I chase after her. But it was too late, she was gone and I couldn’t find her. She is gone.
