Pyrus: Rise Of Darkness

Magic

"Chapter one: how to cast a spell consistently."

  Finally! I continue reading.

"To cast a spell without having to reach a state of extreme emotion, the sorcerer must first be able to connect with the essence of magic. Once you have done this once, you will not have to do it again. To connect, you need to reach a state of total relaxation. Do this how you wish."

  I decide to close my eyes and breath deeply, focusing only on my breathing. I sit here like this for about 10 minutes before I finally feel like I've done it. Remaining in this state, I open my eyes and continue reading.

"You now must connect. Make sure your mark(s) is showing. Now, remaining relaxed, repeat over in your head "I Wish To Use Magic". You will know when the connection has been made. Congratulations on completing step 1."

  I roll up my sleeves then do as the book instructs. After about an hour of sitting like this, something happens. My arms feel all fuzzy and my marks burn. The connection!!! I open my eyes in excitement and let out a whoop. A startled Firebolt looks up at me curiously. I move on to chapter 2.

"Chapter 2: Basic spells.

Now that you are connected, you can begin basic spells. No matter your element, you can manipulate objects. It's something all wizards, witches, sorcerers, and warlocks posses. The easiest way to do this is just to concentrate on the object and outstretch your arm, pointing your hand at the object. You can then move your arm around to make the object move. Try it."

  I walk over to my desk and concentrate on my quill. I outstretch my arm. After a few seconds, the quill quivers and shakes. I laugh and wave my arm around. The quill follows. This is incredible! I try and experiment imagine the quill coming toward me. I then pull my arm toward me. The quill comes right up to my chest. I thrust my arm back out and the quill flies into the wall. Then I get an idea. I pull it over the ink well and dip it in. Then I put the quill on a piece of paper and hold my hand horizontally. I then begin making circles with my hand. The quill begins drawing circles on the paper. This is insane! I release the quill and it drops on the desk.
  I spend the next hour practicing manipulation. I even learn how to conjure fire! I light my wood stove! I make Firebolt fly! He nips me on the finger when I set him down, but I guess I deserve it. With a proud snort, we prances over to my bed, head held high, and jumps up.
  Just then, a hear a chime. 1 o'clock. Time for lessons. I grab Firebolt and take him to his room. I close the door and say goodbye, then rush to the tower.
  Upon entering, I see Richard talking with two other kids. One is considerably younger then me, perhaps 8 or 9 years, and the other looks about 14, my age. The younger one, a boy, has broad shoulders and is slightly shorter than most his age, with light brown hair and muscular arms. He dons similar clothing to me. The girl, the older one, is very slim, almost like a reed, and she looks like a mere gust could snap her in two. Her hair is dyed a light, bright blue, with white streaks in the back. She wears a blue shirt, black stockings, and a pink skirt.
  "Ah, and here is Pyrus!" Richard announces, walking toward me.
  I am a bit confused. "Are they fire sorcerers, too?" I ask.
  Richard chuckles. "No, unfortunately not. The younger boy is Rocky, and the girl is Sky. I believe she is your age, Pyrus," he explains. I nod.
  "Hi," I say meekly. "I'm Pyrus."
  "Hi," says the girl, Sky. "My name is Sky, and this is my little brother, Rocky." Rocky waves shyly. I smile at them, and quickly observe their eyes. Rocky's look like Gaia's but more hard looking, with similar shades of grey in stripes. He is an earth user, hence his name. But Sky's eyes are really strange. It's pretty obvious that she is of air magic, but her eyes look nothing like Gale's, the air section of Richard's, or any other air sorcerer/sorceress I've seen so far. They are a baby blue colour, with white blotches that appear to float around. She realizes I am studying her and turns away abruptly, blushing.
  I try to get the friendliness going. "So what are you guys doing here?" I ask them, as friendly as I can.
  This time, Rocky answers. "We're training with Richard. Why?"
  "Oh," I say, flushing. "I thought I was."
  "And you are, dear boy," assures Richard from behind me. "So are they." I nod.
  "Whoa!" exclaims Rocky, tugging on his sister's sleeve. "Look at his eyes!"
  I am startled temporarily. I allow them to look for a bit longer before looking in a mirror to see for myself. I finger my small 5 o'clock shadow, and run a hand through my disheveled hair. Beneath my jet-black, long, shaggy mop are 2 balls of fire. My irises aren't exactly a circle. They are more of a teardrop, with the point frayed like flame. They seem to rage with an unforgiving inferno, like like black-centred raindrops of fire, intent on nothing but unleashing their anger. I jump back, even more startled than before.
  "They are incredible indeed," comments Richard. Sky tries to hide another blush.
  Just then, another girl walks in. She appears to be younger than me, but older than Rocky. I'd guess maybe 11 or 12. She is a red head, and appears to be very fit and strong. Taking a wild stab, I guess she is a water sorceress, a theory confirmed when she turns my way. Her irises are teardrop shaped with the pupils in the centre, like mine, but actually look like a falling water drop versus my falling fireballs. And, big surprise, they are river blue, and seem to flow like Lilly's. She is wearing deerskin, like me and Rocky. She takes a step back after quickly studying me and my eyes, shocked at seeing a fire user here. I smile friendly-like. She waves in return.
  "And here is River! Wonderful!" Richard announces excitedly. "Let's begin." He leads us up the stairs to a room that looks very similar to the training room in my house.
  We enter. There are a few targets and objects, but aside from that, the room is empty. Just the cobblestone walls and a couple torches for light. They burn brighter and harder when I enter, and seem to burn in my direction. Weird.
  Richard comes to a halt and turns to me. "So, Pyrus, would you care to demonstrate any magic you've learned? As you are new to the whole concept, I'd like to see what you can do, if anything," Richard tells me.
  "Without getting super angry, please," kids Rocky from behind me. We all chuckle.
  I flash him a grin. "Well, since you seem to be such a fan of my magic, I might as well demonstrate on you first," I kid back. He looks suddenly worried, but the worry turns to a grin when he sees my giant smile.
  I look around for something to use. A wood stove! I hadn't seen that when I entered. Breathing deeply, I concentrate. I open the stove without touching it and then levitate some wood into it. Now for the hard part. Focusing, I wave my hand and flick it towards the wood. A little ball of fire flies into the stove and explodes, lighting the wood aflame.
  I turn around and take a quick bow. Richard claps while the others just stand there, dumbstruck. Clearly they've never seen fire magic before.
  "Wonderful!" Richard praises. "Truly wonderful! I am impressed that you learned so much in just 2 hours, including connecting!"
  The others slowly begin clapping as they come to from their trance. As soon as they awake fully, Rocky let's out a little hoot, River claps louder than the rest, and Sky just blushes again. Good grief.
  "Um, Richard?" Rock pipes up. "Why are we training with you now instead of our usual tutors?"
  "Surprise," I whisper to River. "He knows what 'tutor' means."
  She snickers. "I'm surprise he's old enough to understand how to ask an intelligent question," she kids back quietly. I grin.
  "Good question, Rocky," Richard answers, glancing sternly at me and River. "Well, you see, long I have wondered what will happen to this place when I am no longer around. Well, when we heard rumours of a last fire sorcerer wandering about, I knew. I would train 4 individuals to fully master their elements." He doesn't have to finish his sentence. We all understand immediately.
  "But sir," Rocky protests. "I'm not the right earth sorcerer. I'm only 8 years old! Surely Landslide or Geode or someone is better than me!"
  The old man smiles. "Dear Rocky, don't think so lowly of yourself. Trust me, I have not made a mistake," Richard says sweetly. "Now, let's get started."
  We begin by learning to control our elements. Since they are technically not objects, except earth, but there are things only earth magicians can do with earth, only a sorcerer of that element can manipulate it. I practice on the torches and Sky is able to just use the air around us, but Richard has to bring in buckets of water and rock for River and Rocky. It goes fairly well, and I am able to shape the torches' flames into different shapes. But by far the most impressive was Sky. She could condense bits of air to make a levitated fog-like substance which she could then model. I mean, it wasn't water, or she wouldn't have been able to manipulate it anymore, but it looked a lot like fog. Then we practice our accuracy with manipulation by using magic to throw splinters of wood at the target. River was the best at this.
  We were having so much fun, we almost don't  hear the chimes. Time to go.
  As we stroll out of the tower, Sky asks me, "So, what class do you have now?"
  "Reading and writing," I answer. "Why? How about you?"
  "Same."
  "Me too!" announces Rocky.
  "And me," adds River. "I got an updated schedule today. You guys?"
  "Yeah," Rocky and Sky answer in unison.
  "Well, I just got here, so no, but probably if I had been here previously," I tell her.
  She looks puzzled. "Hmm. I figured as much." She stands there staring of into space for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders. "Oh well. We best get to class."
  Once we arrive, we are welcomed in by a gentleman in his mid-twenties. He has a pointed beard and longish black hair. "My name is Shark," he introduces. "I assume you are River, Sky, Rocky, and Pyrus?" We all nod.
  "Well, take your seats. Quickly now, no dawdling," he orders, briskly. I am a little shocked by his personality, but then again, after the people I've seen, I'm honestly surprised I think he's bad.
  "Don't mind him," whispers Rocky. "He's actually a really nice guy. He's a none-magician though, so he's a bit grumpy."
  "So then how'd he get inside?" I whisper back as we take our seats.
  "Well, Richard found him in a basket in the woods when Shark was a baby," Rocky explains, quietly. "He took so much pity on the boy, Richard lowered the spell temporarily just to let Shark in. He named the boy 'Shark' because of the shark-shaped birthmark on his back. Shark's like a son to Richard." I nod.
  Shark begins the lesson. "Alright. How many of the you can't read?" None of us raise our hands.
  "And how many people in this room can't write?" I raise my hand, as well as Rocky and a couple others.
  Shark frowns. "Very well, then," he says gruffly. "I'd like those who can write to group up with those who can't. We might as well get them caught up."
  Lilly and Gale come over. I didn't see them when I walked into the room. Sky also comes over to help me, as well as a few other kids I don't know.
  The kids I don't know introduce themselves. The first, Flora, is an earth sorceress, aged 12, with rainbow hair and eyes similar to Rocky's. There are the twins, Sun and Moon, both users of air. Sun, the boy, has yellow-blonde hair while the girl, Moon, has a silvery hair colour. They are identical otherwise, and are both 14. The final, Delta, is a water user. He has interesting eyes. They are blue, but have muddy-coloured splotches in them. He is aged 16.
  We begin our lesson. The seven of them help me out, and I quickly learn how to write basic words. It actually is quite easy, after you know how to read. Then you basically just have to know how to put it all on paper, I guess. By the time we leave Shark's wooden classroom, I am a decently fluent writer.
  Upon entering Richard's tower again, I notice that the decorations of the lobby have been changed. Instead if the usual oak walls, various paintings are hung. They are all quite beautiful, but there is one that really catches my eye. It is a painting of space, with a beautiful coloured cloud-like thing at the centre.
  "This is incredible," I gush to Rocky, pointing at the painting. "Who made it?"
  "My sister did," he boasts proudly.
  "It's amazing," I say. He nods enthusiastically.
  A sign on the stairwell points upward. Rocky, Sky, River, Gale and I ascend the stairs. Lilly has a different class right now. As we climb, more people begin trickling in. I recognize the twins, and I think I see Flora, too. Another sign points directly to a room. We enter and find Richard standing in the room in a smock. At the various desks are some paints and canvases. He smiles at us as we take our seats.
  More people begin coming in. Flora plops down beside Sky, who is beside me, and the two begin chatting. Rocky, on my other side, calls Sun over, who takes the seat in front of Rocky. Sun smiles shyly at me. A group mean-looking boys come in. A quick glance at their eyes tells me all five are of earth but one, who is air. The air one, who I assume is their leader, sneers at me then whispers something to his friends. They snicker.
  "Ignore them," advises Sky. "That's the best advice I can give you. They're all bark and no bite."
  She grows thoughtful for a second, then adds, "Though I must admit, their bark does have a certain bite to it."
  I snort at her joke. "Who are they, anyway?"
  "Well, the air guy with the brown hair is their leader. His name is Thunder. The tall, blonde haired one is Landslide. The fat, blonde one is Boulder."
  I interrupt her with a snicker. "He sure is named right," I joke.
  "No kiddin'," she agrees. "The other fat one, with red hair, is Stump."
  I snort again. "Are these guys for real?" I half laugh, half say. "Boulder and Stump?"
  She chuckles, too. "Yup. They're about as bright as what they're named for, by the way," she tells me. "And the nasty faced, black haired one is Mountain." I take a look at him. He's gotta be at least a foot taller then me.
  "Well, certainly no mistakes there," I comment. She laughs. I like her laugh. Actually, I like all laughs. It's something I don't usually get to hear. Or at least, got to hear.
  The last few people come in, and Richard starts. "As you've probably all guessed, we will be doing some painting today. This is a freestyle paint session, so you are free to paint what you wish," he instructs. "Oh, and no enchanting the brush. It must all be done by hand. You have 45 minutes."
  I don't waste my time. While I was on the run, I would often paint on birchbark, making my own paint out of plants and water. I decide to paint all my friends' eyes. I start with Lilly's, because she's not here. Then I do Sky's, Rocky's, River's, and Gale's. They don't look exactly the right colour, but they look good enough. Besides, I doubt you could get them the exact right colour with paint.
  Class is over sooner than I'd have liked. "Oh, before you all leave," Richard calls out. "Please bring your pets to the next class. We will be practicing painting them. Enjoy the rest of your day!"
  I hurry back to my house after the 5 of us all agree to meet at the square with our pets to hang out with each other. I find Lilly and tell her to be there, too.