Lionheart

Success

"Not enough", this was all Linley thought as he walked home, disappointed with himself, he knew that he done well but it was not adequate enough to enter the academy, he cursed himself and thought "If only I were as strong as my father" .

A grim look was clearly visible on his face thus as he walked through the streets of his village, no one greeted or even tried to speak to him, all except one though, as Linley walked with his head low, he felt a push from behind, he turned around irritated he was going to shout at the person who pushed him but stopped as he saw Sasha standing behind him.

She wore a pink dress in which she looked really pretty and she also wore the sweetest smile Linley had ever seen, he looked at her and his cheeks flushed with red, she looked really beautiful, he stared at her in a weird silence when she said, "Where have you been Lin ?, I have been looking everywhere for you" he thought for a moment "Should I tell her ? or should I not ?" tangled in his thoughts , he got confused and said "I was fishing with Maud".

Sasha smiled and said "Oh , is that so" she made a naughty expression and pinched Linley on his cheek so hard that he said laughing "Stop , it hurts " she let go and said "Let's see you catch me ", saying this she ran fast and he gazed at her , her face bright as ever as she ran and a cheerful aura revolved around her.

As he chased her around the fields, the streets and the houses he realized that he felt better, as always her presence was the most pleasing to him , it made him forget all his agony and filled him with joy. He played with her and then went home where he found Maud talking to Carson both had a serious look on their face, he tried to eavesdrop, he could not hear much but what he heard was ,"He's still weak, at this rate he won't be able to enroll ".

His face went pale, that sentence was like a hot knife carving out his heart, right out of his chest, he knew he was weak, but this was the first time he heard someone say it. His eyes filled with tears, crying he ran to his room locked himself inside and tried to sleep.

He stared at the ceiling, he could not help but feel the disappointment his father would have if he saw him in this state, the night was dark and cold, it slowly devoured the light , Linley could not sleep , he just thought of how to find magic in him , his exhaustion soon took its toll on him and he fell asleep.

As he dreamt he was in the same woods as always, he again saw the same elf and the same lion, he was expecting to hear something new as the last time he had that dream she dint say her usual sentence , but to his surprise she said the same.

"Always be brave, never be afraid,

look into your heart , for there is hidden your true part."

He was in deep thought as she removed her hand she usually used to place on his cheek. And soon as she removed her hand everything vanished and Linley woke up. He stood up yawning and still thinking the meaning of the dream. "Always be brave ....never afraid, aah.... What did she mean? ", he finished his daily chores and sat under the tree where he usually sat, he thought "I think I should try meditating" and so he sat cross legged closed his eyes and hoped to find magic in a huge quantity this time.

As he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could feel his brain, he tried the place where he found magic the day before but to his surprise it was empty, he could feel no magic there this time , he searched for a while longer then gave his desperate search for magic, he lay himself under the tree, again in a foul mood he thought and thought but could not think of other ways to find magic.

Soon he realized it was time for his lessons with Maud, he stood up and rushed to the bank, he soon reached there and saw Maud sitting under the tree, he had a half eaten apple in his hand which he placed in his bag as he noticed Linley, "So, shall we begin", Linley looked at Maud, he seemed calm although Linley knew that Maud was just as desperate as he was.

He sat beside Maud and as usual started meditating, he tried as hard as he could but did not find even a small speck of magic, infuriated he opened his eyes and shouted "This is futile, I am useless," tears rolled down his cheeks and a pale look appeared on his face, Maud crept close to him and said "Never give up Linley, do you know how long it took me to discover even a small amount of magic in me?".

Linley raised his gaze and moved his head so that he directly faced Maud and said "I don't" Maud giggled and said "Three months !" Linley looked at Maud and said "Really?" Maud still laughing said "Yes".

Linley smiled and said "What am I doing wrong teacher?" Maud almost instantaneously replied "You still have not found where magic resides, Linley." Linley lowered his gaze staring at the ground and started thinking where could magic reside, he was in deep thoughts when a low sound resonated in his mind "Look into your heart, for there is hidden your true part" Linley laughed and repeated the sentence in a whisper looking at Maud with a funny expression on his face.

Maud looked at him and said "Well , you seem cheerful " Linley smiled and said "Let's try again" Maud smiled and said "Very well then , let's begin" Linley crossed his legs and closed his eyes and this time instead of his mind , he peered deep into his heart , as he went deeper he could feel all his emotions , his joy , his despair , his confusions all at once , he ignored them and dug deep , as he went deeper he found it .

Linley could feel the magic around him, the heart is the true source of magic he thought , he looked at the source of magic and what he saw surprised him , it was a huge pool of light, it illuminated his heart in a plump red color , he could feel it , it was a lot of magic it was a huge discovery for him he went into the pool and felt the same feeling as before , he was using magic again.

As he was in the pool he could see narrow streams connected to it, they carried small amounts of magic to the pool , he had found the place where magic resided . Happy he opened his eyes and saw Maud with a glad look on his face, he had never seen him laugh like that, it was as if he had faking laughs for so long and now he really was laughing.

He patted on Linley's head and said "Very good Linley, you have found it, the true source of magic " Linley stood up punched the air in excitement and to his surprise, as he punched a huge storm of wind appeared in his hand and flew in the direction he punched ,He turned towards Maud as he said "There you go, you have discovered your first spell , the wind blade" Linley shouted in excitement

"I did it , I am finally Successful"