The Journey For The Heart

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Alona!” the blue eyed youth complained. “We have to leave now! Or we’ll be late!”

“Yes, I know!” frustration coloured the answering tone, “five more seconds!”

Ryde ground his teeth in frustration. He knew better than to take Alona’s frustration personally; they were both stressed and nervous. Who wouldn’t be? today was the day they would be apprenticed. The day a master would chose them to learn their trade...or not. But Ryde refused to let himself think of the alternative, postive thinking was the key. Positive thinking.

“Ok!" Alona announced as she appeared in the door way of their unique home. A circlet of oak leaves adorned her ebony hair, bright purple against the dark contrast of her hair. Her leaf green eyes sparkled with excitment and anxiety. She started down the mass of roots that made up the steps to their home."Let’s get goi-ehhh!” Alona let out a yelp of surprise as her foot caught on a protruding root and she tumbled to the ground. She sat up, fallen leaves crowning her dark hair, “-ing.” she finished feebly, smiling sheepishly.

“Now can we go?” Ryde asked. Alona glared at him in annoyance as she brushed the leaves and bark from her new tunic. She ran her fingers through her hair removing the leaves with painstaking care. She was taking her time, purposefully annoying the restless boy beside her.

“Now,” she said replacing her garland of oak leaves on her head. “We can go.”

“Finally!” Ryde commented as he started a brisk pace towards the city. As they walked Ryde gaze kept flickering to her head, and finally Alona couldn't stand it any longer.

“What?” she asked self-consciously.

“They’re purple.” he said flatly.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked anxiously. holding a hand up to the brightly coloured foliage.

"They're purple." he repeated, stressing the word purple.

“I know!” she ripped the garland off her head again and glared at the offending coloured leaves. “It was the best I could do.” she sighed in frustration. “I can’t do it Ryde! Growth is my worst magic. Who is going to want me as their apprentice?” she sighed again. “It’s just... I wanted to make grandfather proud. He always wanted me to be a growth mage. It’s just...you know?”

“I know.” Ryde wished he could tell her that Grandfather wouldn’t care if she was a growth mage or not, as long as she was happy; but he knew better, and Alona knew better. Grandfather wasn’t their real Grandfather, but he had looked after them for as long as either of them could remember, and they were very thankful to him for it, even though he could be hard to live with at times.

“I’ll have another go,” Alona said more to herself than to Ryde, and threw the ruined garland in a bush as they passed. She took a small branch from the tree above it and continued walking, increasing her speed in order to catch up to Ryde. She bent the stick, joining the ends so it was one continuous circle. Her fingers glowed green, signifying the use of Growth magic, threads of light spread from her hands encircling the stick, covering it with a bright glow. Her eyes glowed an unearthly green and her face showed fierce concentration as she worked. Then the light faded and resting in Alona’s delicate hands was a circlet of leaves, perfectly formed except for one problem.

They were an unnaturally bright blue.

Alona’s hands clenched into fists, crushing the garland into a pile of broken twigs and bruised leaves.

“Now you’re going to have to create another one,” Ryde remarked, raising an eyebrow at the ruined garland.

“No,” she shook her head. “I’ll just…say something happened to it or something.”