The Lost Voices (OLD VERSION - New Version to Come)

CHAPTER 2... MAGIC (PART 2)

Journal Entry 58: Wishes

8-18-1620 A.R.

Location: Brickshaw, Terrarin

The next morning, Xiajem was pacing by an enormous stone that occupied Ytrieda's backyard. Up against her five-foot four stature, it still had almost four feet to the top. It held its ground against the wide plateau that loomed beyond it, which hung over the wooded valley below. On the southern side of the stone, closest to the small house, was a decent fire pit surrounded by sunken rocks that served as stools at night. Each one had a long poker sitting beside it for roasting food, and for students to disobediently have "sword fights" when Ytrieda wasn't looking. 

This was where Xiajem was walking now, waiting on her student for the afternoon. Around the great stone, to the north, was an array of thick wooden posts with targets and rocks with various training scars. From burns in the grass, to scars in the wood, to small fissures in the stones, the area was worn down from years of activity that left it a hardened, but familiar arena.

Xiajem could hear Ytrieda lecturing her as she pressed her toes into the yellowed grass near a worn down rock. The dry soil pushed up and scattered from her feet in the chilled wind. She had been on her pilgrimage from Impatra for a little over a year, and about ten months of that was with Ytrieda, but she already felt enormously attached to her stern, withdrawn, and powerful character. An adorable nature existed under her years of experience in training to conceal it, but Xiajem could see it come out when it truly mattered. 

Ytrieda's spirit was too alert for mundane life and, yet, here she was: dwelling on the border of the state, the edge of her home nation. Altogether, she trusted caution and held a love-hate relationship with concern. That may come off as weird, but it was the apt definition Xiajem wrote in the journal at her bedside.

Then, clearing her mind, Xiajem envisioned her will and the way in which she planned to project it against the misshapen rock at her feet. Her profoundly green eyes temporarily shifted to an iridescent purple and her imagination attempted to reduce the stone to dust, but the magical surge seemed to stutter and lightly kickback on her forehead. Rubbing her brow, Xiajem struggled to understand why purple magic continued to be so difficult for her. 

Just then, a small pre-teen girl trotted around the corner of the house with a cute pep that loosened Xiajem's tightened posture. Mona's students were children and teens that showed an especially impressive affinity for magic and required significant attention to handle their genetic blessing. This child appeared no different than any other, but she was new and that meant the basics would need attention once again.

Ytrieda was speaking to the girl as they came back. "Now, I'm going to talk with your father while my teaching assistant hones you in on the primaries of magic, okay? And remember, no questions about the bandages. They're only because of an accident."

The girl looked confused, but interested as she approached Ytrieda's helper. "Hi! What's your name?"

Motioning to herself, "I'm Xiajem. And you are?"

"Lillian, but my friends call me Lilly or Lil." Then came the inevitable question and reaction. "Why is your skin so black?" Ytrieda opened her mouth, but Xiajem only smiled and slightly bent to reach Lilly's eyes.

"I'm from Impatra. Down there, our skin tends to be a different shade from yours."

"Well, why aren't you there? Don't you miss home?"

"Yes, but I'm on a pilgrimage right now."

"What's that?"

"Basically, I'm taking my schooling on the road and learning what other cultures and people are like."