The Magical Story of Elise

Chapter Four

After practicing Influencing on different plants for a good few hours, Sage had moved me onto trying consciously summon Phoenix.

He struggled to explain how to do so as he lacked knowledge in the area, but he did his best, adapting his process of using magic to mine.

"So uh, I usually just imagine things and it happens for the Illusionist magic."

I did just that, multiple times. Imagining Fee in front of me.

"It doesn't work."

"Hmm... maybe try calling her? In you mind. You know, like how you talk to the plants." He suggested.

I tried that as well. After no success in that area, we decided to give up and get some food. My limbs felt heavy, all my energy gone from Influencing. Sage was a strict teacher, only giving minimal breaks.

We ate another meal of strange, unique foods that held many vibrant colours. Obviously the general rule that bright colours meant poisonous did not carry forward into this world. I finished eating in record time and decided to go find Fee.

Her and Cedar sat in the small living room on the other side of the hall. They sat under a fort built out of pillows and blankets and a couple of chairs, chatting away about a make-believe story. I backed out of the room slowly and shut the door as quietly as I could. Happiness filled me, making me smile. Fee had never really got close enough to someone to make friends before, Greg had said it would be dangerous as she didn't look human.

"I'll leave them to play. They seem to be enjoying each other's company." I said as I walked back into the kitchen, "So what's the plan now then?"

"For today?"

"I mean to get to the camp thing you were talking about." I replied and sat down.

"Ah, well, we can set off tomorrow probably, after we're rested up. We'll make our way through the city and hopefully make it to Rockfall lake by the evening. You, Phoenix and Cedar will be fine, it's just avoiding anyone who will recognise me. If i'm spotted, we'll have a hell of a difficult time getting out of the city." He rested his chin on his hand.

"Why's that?"

"Oh, because I travel around trying to find Hybrids, when one is discovered i'm usually there. The King knows i'm around and am trying to save Hybrids."

"Wait, why are Hybrids killed?" I asked, pushing my hair out of my face.

He looked sad at this, "It's really just down to a few individuals giving Hybrids a bad reputation. The kingdoms were allowed to mix a long time ago, but Hybrids still weren't super common weirdly enough. I guess Niuks and Dalakis really don't like each other much... Anyway, Hybrids got a lot of negativity and jealousy thrown towards them due to them having more powers than other fae, so I guess some Hybrids got bitter and group banded together and started causing trouble in the Kingdoms, they would pick on non-Hybrids, treating them horribly because they thought they were better than anyone with less magic. A lot of people got hurt during this time, items were stolen, a lot of people injured, even a couple killed.
"Eventually, once most of them were rounded up and thrown into prisons, it was realised that the barriers that prevent the use of magic in these prisons were specific to the kingdom it was in."

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"So a barrier in Niuk would prevent usage of Niuk magic while a barrier in Dalaki would prevent usage of Dalaki magic. Any Hybrid would be able to use their other magic if they were caught."

"Couldn't they make double barriers or something?" I scrunched my face up, confused.

"Nope, the barriers would explode on impact. Seems like the different magic wouldn't mix." He explained.

"Oh right. So Hybrids were banned after that?" I frowned.

"Yeah, it's not the best reason. I think there was most likely other reasoning behind it as well, but I guess we'll never know." His chocolate coloured hair hung over his eyes, casting a shadow. He looked deep in thought, his jaw slightly clenched. The topic obviously upset him. I felt my stomach clench, I felt bad for asking.

"It's cool what you do." I tried, "Saving Hybrids from being killed. Quite honourable."

He looked up, revealing a slight smile, "Thank you. Cedar is the most recent I found, other than you of course. He lived on the streets with a bunch of other children. They were being taught magic by an older child when he nearly got caught by the guards. It was a close call."

Suddenly both Fee and Cedar burst into the room and halted in front of us, "We're hungry." They said at the same time.

I laughed as Sage went to grab them some food from the counter.

It was nearing late afternoon, the sun sat low in the sky, rays stretching far into the room and giving off a warm glow. I decided to go and clean up before heading upstairs to try Influencing some more. The Ivy in my room taunted me, never obeying when I told one leaf to grow.

I persisted in taming the mischievous plant until the sun's rays no longer lit up the room and the moon began to rise. It peeked over the city roofs, as if uncertain about rising further.

I collapsed on my bed, feeling more tired than when I trained earlier. My arms and legs felt like weights, unwilling to move from the soft fabric on the bed. My eyelids drooped and I soon slipped into an exhausted sleep.

I was woken rudely by someone calling my name.

"Elise!"

I groaned, rolling onto my side. Hands shook my shoulder.

"Elise, get up now, we need to leave," A voice hissed at me.

I blinked and pushed myself up slightly, "What's going on?"

Sage pulled me up from the bed and spoke quietly, "There's guards outside the door."