Pure Magic [Editing]

A New Bond

Chapter 2

A New Bond

Sitting up, I glanced at my watch. It was currently 1:39am and no matter how hard I tried, I could not drift off to sleep. Not that it really matters seeing as I never have needed a lot of sleep. Before the war I always stayed up late watching (and sometimes re-watching) the latest episodes of Doctor Who and Sherlock...

The war started 2 years ago. A huge arguement sparked between countries within the EU following a sixth Greek Debt Crisis. Greece was excluded from the European Union but many rebelled including Greece's neighbours- Italy, Bulgaria and Romania- who quickly left the EU. The Greeks made plans with them and Turkey who then announced an alliance. They called themselves 'La Vera Europa' - Italian for True Europe.

Currently, they had fought their way across Europe and had managed to take over all countries from the east up until the borders of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia. Many precautions had been put into place with intense security

Unlike the First and Second World War, fighting was much more civilized. Most of the time, innocent people were never attacked. The only ones who were targeted were Presidents/Prime MInisters and key people in Parliament. Even the targets were assassinated quietly.

There are a few spies on this side though. There are a few rebels scattered here and there who want to do all they can to help Greece. That's why we need to be careful.

The collection point was in Scottland, Inverness; our town is tucked away neatly in the south-west of England. We were traveling by foot as we were training as we journeyed.

Stretching out, I sighed trying not to think about it. Instead, I tried to think about my gift. Magic is quite rare and extremely unpredictable. It is a strange talent that does not run in families. Magic users can also sometimes have many skills in their category of magic.

For example, take me for instance. While I have my 'Imagination' power, I also have the power of telepathy. However, these two powers fall in the same category of magic: Mind Magic. Surveys by the many intrigued scientists, have shown that you can also learn magic but only if you already possess magic power and you are learning new magic of the same category. I also suspect there may be others among the group who are dual powered.

Breathing deeply, I surveyed the cave. Nearly everyone was sound asleep- soft echoes of snores reverberating off the walls. Everyone except Jade. For some reason, she was sniffling and shivering. Was she okay?

Lying back down, I shut my eyes and concentrated. Some may consider it a breach of privacy, but using my telepathy I tapped into her thoughts.

'I wish she never passed over. I loved her, she comforted me. She was mine. It's not fair. Why did she have to go? I want her to stay here with me. It's hard to put on this brave face all the time. I just want to feel her sweet warmth like I did before.'

All the dark thoughts spinning around in Jade's head now also spun with mine. I had always been quite emotional- leaving my house without shedding a single tear was almost torture for me- so it was no surprise when my cheeks felt wet.

Silently, tears rolled down my cheeks. Jade was thinking of her mother before the war. The only thing is, now she's dead. I lay there in silence, staring up at the ceiling of our shelter. I knew exactly how she felt. My own mother had died as soon as I was born. My auntie had died too, but before the war.

My auntie was the closest I ever had to a mother. She was always kind and caring; forever offering to take me on trips to the cinema/theme park/zoo. I smiled as I pictured the past. Then something queer dawned on me- the way Jade's mother had died. 

It was the exact same way as my auntie had passed too! And it was the exact same day as well. That isn't normal... I felt a strange feeling of fear creep over me and shaken, I stood up slowly from my sleeping bag.

I walked over to Jade and grabbed my cloak on the way. I bit my lip as I saw glistening tears roll down her face.

"Want to go out for some fresh air?" I whispered, materializing a tissue in my hand that I held out to her. 

"Sure," she sniffed back, taking the tissue.

Soundlessly, we crept out from the cave into the fresh mountain air. I inhaled deeply, relaxing. Jade wandered over to a ledge and precariously perched herself on the edge, legs hanging over. Reluctantly, I clambered to her side.

Jade did not register my presence and instead she stared out across the land- focusing her eyes on the tiny speck in the distance; our village. After a few minutes, she started to shiver. The snow may not have reached this part of the mountain we sat at, but the temperature was still as low as low can go. 

"Are you cold?" I asked her, breaking the silence.

She turned and looked at me, "Yeah."

I pulled my cloak from my lap and handed it over to her. Another minute of silence passed and I noticed Jade absent-mindedly twirling her jade bracelet around her wrist.

"You heard me, didn't you," she stated, "You heard me thinking of my mum."

Guiltily, my gaze fell to the drop below. I could feel her stare boring into me. A heard a choking sound from her and snapped my head to look at her. She smiled and I soon realised she was actually laughing- not choking.

"How did you know?" I asked curiously, puzzled.

"Why do you think I'm here? What's the one thing we all have in common? Magic. Duh!" she giggled, "I know how to read people's minds and also move objects with my mind too."

I knew it! I wasn't the only one with a sole magic.

"You're funny and cool. Bet you were popular in school," I teased.

Jade shook her head, chuckling even harder, "So many boys tried to hit on me, it was so hilarious!"

"So do you have a boyfriend now?" I asked.

"Nah," she sighed, "Still looking for my prince charming, I'm afraid."

Our conversation halted and silence filled the air yet again.

"Did you hear my thoughts- about my auntie?" I mumbled.

"Yeah. Weird, isn't it?" she answered, "Freaky."

"Well," I began, standing up then helping Jade up, "I guess we're friends now, right?"

Jade stared at me strangely, "You aren't good with all this friendship stuff are you?"

"Nah," I smiled, "In fact, you're like my third friend ever."

We crept back into the cave and Jade grinned, "Well, then. I'm trusting you as my new friend to always have my back. Good night, Fire."

I smiled, feeling warm and fuzzy, "Good night, Jade."

Maybe this whole adventure wasn't as bad as I had first thought.