The Path Before Me

[alamea]

A slight humming could be heard in one corner of the library one afternoon. If one had followed it, they would have found a very tired apprentice avidly reading by herself, as she had been for most of that day. Alamea Hammel was pouring over books of magic, soaking in every word she could and learning everything they had to teach. A roll of parchment was at her side, with a quill in hand, and each time she read something useful or interesting, it got written down for future usage. Her face was calm and serene, betraying no real emotion, just focused down on the texts before her. The table seemed to be strained under the weight of the large tomes, some weighing more than a small child. One could clearly see that they were separated into two areas.

The one to the apprentices right containted titles such as Mastering the Elements, Basic Illusions, Seeing the Future, Nature Around Us, and Religious Spells for Clerics. All titles relating to what a mage could become further down the road of training. Alamea wanted to learn as much as she could about these positions, and make up her mind right now. Though her heart was leaning towards Dementia Master as her final stop, and the goal for her future, a Summoner didnt seem so bad either. I guess there is a reason we have to train so hard to become these, why it takes so many years. There are so many paths to take, its hard to choose. Already two rolls of parchment were dedicated to notes about these topics.

To her left were books titled things like Basic Spells for the New Apprentice, Beginners Elements, Willpower vs. Word, Dueling. All titles full of spells and instructions for dueling in an arena, or in Alamea's case, the jousting fields. She had signed up to be part of the tournament, and wanted to know as many spells as she could. It would be good practice, and could actually be a bit fun. But she had to be knowledgeable before she entered. In front of the girl was 3 candles, all unlit. Narrowing her hazel eyes, Alamea uttered a spell to bring flame to one of them. It took a couple tries, but she got it to light in the end. Going towards the second candle, she said the spell to cause ice, and though it took even longer than fire, in the end she caused some crystals to form on the wax.

The last candle would be a bit harder. She wanted to levitate this. The spell was difficult for an apprentice, but all the same, she wanted to manage it at least a little bit. If she could do that, then she knew she could practice and get it down in time for the tournament. Eyes narrowed, she directed one hand at the candle and said the spell strong. Nothing happened. With a sigh she tried again, no avail. Third time, still motionless. But the fourth time the candle lifted up off its holder, and through her shock Alamea managed to move it about an inch before the spell lost its hold. The grin on her face was enough to make anyone laugh. Maybe being a mage wasnt so bad after all.

[Mira Nightingale]

It was late afternoon, almost early evening, and Mira had gotten into another fight with her parents. They were trying to introduce her to some young man who was a merchant in the grain market, hoping for her to get married once again. After meeting the man, who had rather bad acne on his forehead, Mira had politely excused herself with the excuse that she didn’t feel well, and had snuck out of the house.

She hadn’t had time to change her clothing before she left her house, so she was still wearing the elaborate pink evening gown with soft lace trimming and silk overskirt, along with small, pink, slipper-like shoes, that she had met yet another suitor wearing. She felt a little overdressed as she was walking down the street, so had taken the first right and quickly hustled down to the library, the nearest public place she could go to at this time.

She had entered the library after waiting a minute to catch her breath, and had walked directly inside and started browsing the shelves, hiding herself from view from the main door incase one of her esteemed relatives came after her, demanding that she go back home.

This was how she was when she heard soft humming coming from the corner nearest her of the large library. Mira tucked a strand of loose, dark red hair behind her ear as she followed the sound, finding the source of the humming after a moment. It was a girl, a very tired looking girl at that. The table all around her was piled high with very large books that seemed to be separated into two different piles.

Mira watched from behind the girl as she muttered a few words, causing one candle to light up, another to freeze, and the last to lift up into the air. Mira was so surprised that she almost gasped and interrupted the girl, but she caught herself at the last moment and stayed quiet. The girl must be a mage. Mira, leading the sheltered life that she did, had never met one before, and had never seen anyone commit actual magic. Once the girl seemed to be finished Mira made up her mind and walked slowly toward her, making her presence known.

“May I sit here?” she asked her softly, nodding towards the empty chair at the table. She wanted to ask the girl so much now, but she kept her mouth closed for a little later. Plus, if the girl was busy then she didn’t want to interrupt anything.