Orelie

*15*

*15*

"Are you sure you don't need help, Kyrene?" Crae asked as I set everything I needed for my staff before me. I scanned over the items, making sure everything was in place. It was starting to get annoying with how many times he's asked if I needed help.

I shook my head. "No, I've got it. Besides, this staff is supposed to understand my magic level. How is it supposed to help me channel it if it won't know how much I actually give off? I'll be fine, I promise."

"Alright..." He stood close to me as I held the branch up beside me. Since it was a foot taller than me, I want to break off about two feet of it to make it more manageable. I stretched on my toes and measured roughly two feet down and picked up the small axe Crae provided me with. I carefully chipped away at the wood until it broke off.

I narrowed my eyes a bit as I focused. The piece I cut off is a bit too long for what I want to do with it. Using my nature element abilities, I carefully allowed the branch to grow until it made a perfect circle. Once it was seamlessly attached to itself, I cut the circle in half.

"Fascinating..." Rodnik muttered on my other side.

I ignored him as I smoothed out the other part of the branch and made a small dip. I rested the circle half on the divot and took a deep breath. Soon, the circle grew into the branch once more, securing it in place. It looked like a half moon opening up to the sky.

"Such creativity," Rodnik awed as I picked up the emerald stone. This is going to be tricky. Since this stone is about the size of my palm, it's going to be attached rather firmly. I don't want it to fall off.

I rested it at the exact center of the half circle and willed more parts of the branch to grow over the stone. It swirled gracefully over the stone. I grinned, glad it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I picked up the four smaller sapphire stones, setting one at the very end of the half circle on both sides of the wood. The wood grew around the edges of the stones to hold them.

Now for the ropes. I tied one to each side where the half circle was on the main branch and slid six orange beads on each rope piece. I tied and singed the ends so they wouldn't unravel. The third rope piece was a bit longer than the other two. I carefully looped it around the half circle and main branch. I willed a sharp piece of the main branch to puncture through the rope and wrap around the main branch, pinning the rope to it.

Lastly, I picked up the rainbow feather. This is going to be the tricky part. If I mess up, I could end up ruining the feather or the rope pieces. I took a deep breath and focused. I wrapped one strand around the branch and pinned it in place. I grabbed the second one and wrapped it around the base of the feather.

With careful precision, I burnt the rope to the feather, making sure it wasn't going anywhere.

With a relieved smile, I wiped at my forehead and held my new staff out before me. It truly was magnificent.

"Amazing," I looked over my shoulder to Crae and Rodnik as he took a step forward. "It's nearly complete. I need a lock of your hair and your staff." I nodded and handed him my staff. I separated a small bunch of my hair and held up about an inch in length for him. With a swift movement I didn't catch, he cut cleanly through my hair and held it up.

"Prefect." He began to mutter to himself as he wrapped strands of my hair over the staff. Somehow, they stayed in place, almost seeming to infuse into the wood. Soon, it gave a soft glow. Not even a minute later, I stared in wonder at my staff as Rodnik handed it back to me.

The once dark, rough wood had smoothed out and had taken on the color of my silver hair. It shimmered slightly in the light as I held it up once more.

"It's beautiful." I ran my fingers over the glossy finish. Any small mistakes I may have made attaching my items to the staff had corrected themselves and looked as if the staff had already been made this way.