Chapters 1-3

Chapter 1

Rustlings could be heard from the open wooden door. A look inside would reveal an eighteen-year-old girl stuffing books and other items into a handmade leather bag. Her dark-brown hair swung from side to side as she looked through her bookcase, sorting out the things she would take with her. Her eyes, also a dim shade of brown, scanned a corner of her closet. Her pale hands took out a black silk bag, which enclosed a deck of tarot cards, and placed it in her bag. Other small pouches followed. Her short figure finished filling up her bag, being careful not to forget anything, as she probably wouldn’t be coming back to this room for a long time.
Once her clothes and magical items had been secured in her bag, she proceeded to take a sword from below her bed. After carefully removing the seals placed on her sword, to prevent anyone from touching it without suffering painful consequences, she placed it in its sheath belt. The hilt was still visible as she tied the belt around her waist. However, after a quick spell to modify the air around it, its black color didn’t stand out against the girl’s attire at all.
“Elya, you’re going to be late! If you’re walking to the port then you have to leave now!”, the girl’s mother called. Once she had made sure she hadn’t forgotten anything— for the fifth time— Elya took a few books in her hands and exited her room, closing the door on her way out. She bade goodbye to her parents, left the house and headed towards her school. Elya had attended that school since she was young. It was small and had very few students, which made her parents reluctant to send her there, but it was the only school in the city that had magic in its curriculum. After a short walk, which hadn’t been made harder by the weight of what she was carrying, she came within view of the school.

Professor Emerand was waiting in front of the doors leading into his classroom. He was older than her by a few decades, and well known in town for being the only certified teacher of magic. There were others, but none had been approved by the church to teach the subject. Their policies were very strict, few individuals were able to get a teaching license.
“Elya, I thought you might leave without saying goodbye. Needless to say, that would have disappointed me immensely.” The man put on a long-suffering face, then smiled at the young girl.
“Of course not, I wouldn’t leave without seeing you first. Here, these are yours” Elya said, and gave her teacher a small pile of books she had been reading at home. They were spell books, and quite advanced for her age. Ever since she had started studying magic, professor Emerand had given her extra reading material, as he thought she would be able to deal with the additional work. And, from what he could see, she had.
“Thank you. I’m sure they came in handy, especially the book with spells dedicated to help travelers on the road.”
“Yes” Elya replied, “I’m already using one, to reduce the weight of all I’m carrying. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to take with me all I needed for this journey”.
Her teacher eyed her for a moment, perhaps waiting for a change in her visage. “You aren’t coming back anytime soon, are you?” he asked, though he knew fully well why she was leaving. As she shook her head he had to stifle a laugh. “You are very quiet, seem so inoffensive and submissive, but you still have a strong will. Not to mention too much ambition”.
She smiled back, glad that there wasn’t anyone listening at such an early hour. “Yes, and you helped me get closer to fulfilling my ambition. After all, not many people would allow me to read books about advanced magic so soon. And, let us not forget, some of those books could bring you trouble with the church, because of their… dubious teachings. Not many merchants would risk bringing books like those into the city. That’s why I had so much trouble finding them.”
“Well, as you are going to be traveling, you will see that in other cities magic is held in a higher regard than in this one. It might be because we are not near any of the six Gods, but the people aren’t trusting of magic at all. They prefer to rely upon their physical abilities rather than their mental prowess. There are exceptions, however: I recommend going to the village of Seles, if you are ever doubtful of your course. You will find quite a load of useful information there, if you can reach it unharmed”.
Elya looked at his nostalgic smile. She deduced he had gone there, probably a long time from now, and that such strict policies on magic were absent in that village. That would be a nice place to visit, she thought, but it’s opposite the direction I’m heading now, and it’s supposed to be in a terrible condition. “Well, if that’s all the knowledge you want to impart upon me before I leave, then I will go. Otherwise, Alarie will be angry at me for being late”.
“Alarie, your cousin? It was a good idea, to go to Kindlire on a boat with her. This way no one will question the reason for your trip, they will assume you went to visit family there as well. In any case, I am certain you will do fine. What you are about to do is very complicated, however, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t succeed at first. As for advice, I have no more to give to you, after all, you would never pass up an opportunity to learn. I’m sure your amassed knowledge is worth more than most can imagine”.
Elya blushed a bit, she wasn’t used to receiving such compliments. She would normally hide her magic abilities, and not let anyone see what she could do unless it was strictly necessary. A few people knew she was better than the rest of her class at magic, but no one —except professor Emerand and Birseo— thought twice about it.
“Well, before you go, make sure you have everything. What did you take with you? Anything that might arouse others’ attention?”
Elya smiled, “Perhaps. Let’s see, I have about three books with notes of mine on all kinds of magic, a deck of tarot cards, magical talismans and amulets, not to mention a very heavy moneybag. Oh, and a sword as well, just in case”.
The professor frowned a bit. “Just in case? I know it’s a good idea to protect yourself, but what can you do with a sword? If you can’t use it, it might be better not to take it with you at all.”
Elya knew he was going to ask that, as both of them knew she had never attended a swordsmanship class, or even practiced. “I can’t use it well, but I learned a few ways to make fighting easier. Heating up the blade with fire magic or running electricity through it, for example. And, just possessing a sword will make others assume I can use it, even though I don’t look particularly menacing.”
Emerand smiled, thinking this was more like her. “Very true. Well, I think I can hear footsteps. I know you can keep a low profile, but be especially careful when traveling, since what you are going to do goes against the church. If you want to write, your letters would be welcome.” As a few students came into view, the professor lowered his voice. “Just so you know, the level of the class will undergo a drastic drop today. Take care, in the roads there are more and more bandits, and who knows what they would do to someone as young as you are.”
“Someone as pretty as I am, you mean”, Elya said while smirking, “But yes, I will be careful. I’ll put all of your teachings to a good use, even if the church will try to make me fail. They don’t know what will happen if we all stand back, but I won’t let them find out. Goodbye professor”.

“Birseo! Wait for me!” Elya said as she tried to catch up with the man walking in front of her. His light, short hair reflected the sun’s rays, which were getting stronger as noon approached.
“Elya, you haven’t left yet? Your boat is waiting, it’s the one furthest to the right. Your cousin has already been asking for you”. His friendly grey eyes easily recognized the person whom he had helped get magic books from coming boats, even though it wasn’t exactly legal. He had also helped her get a few jobs, mainly healing, lifting curses and banishing spirits. Others had asked Birseo if he knew someone to cast dark magic, but he hadn’t referred them to Elya. Not because he didn’t think she could cast such spells, but because he knew she would never accept to hurt others.
“Yes, I’m going. I just wanted to say goodbye to you, since I’m not going to be coming back for a long time.”
Birseo stopped walking and looked at her more closely. “Your cousin said that you were only going to be gone for two weeks. What are you planning? You aren’t going to…”
“I thought this would be the best time to attempt it. I have an excuse to leave the city, and I think I’m ready to try it. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine” Elya said, and continued walking towards the boat that would take her to Kindlire, hoping he would shake out of his trance.
“Isn’t it going to be dangerous?” Birseo asked as he hurried up to her. He didn’t know much about magic —he had worked in this port ever since he was young and had never cast a spell— but Elya sometimes explained things to him. From what he could tell, what she was going to do would risk her life.
Elya nodded and kept on walking, her head down. Even though she didn’t have many friends, she knew the hardest thing would be to say goodbye to them. Birseo and Emerand were the only people who actually cared about her. Had she told anyone else she was leaving for so long they would certainly have said they were sad, but none of them would actually be sincere. That was one of the problems of living in a large city like Numen, its people cared about their own affairs and nothing else. The only two people that had accepted to help her had initially only made some financial profit, but then, out of contact with Elya, had made a friend. She felt terrible for leaving, but she had no choice. “Sorry Birseo, but I have to go. I’ll write, of course, but I probably won’t visit for a while. You’ll have to find someone else to refer all my costumers to.”
He smiled. “That’s not what I was worrying about”. He knew she was trying to make things easier by being impassive, but that she didn’t want to leave. They walked in silence for a few minutes, until they reached the boat embellished with golden letters that spelled Nereid.
“Be careful Elya, not everyone is as nice as I am” Birseo joked, though Elya knew it was true. After a hug and an assurance that she would take care, she walked towards the Nereid, where her cousin Alarie was waiting. Alarie was dressed in a long pink dress with matching gloves and shoes. She looked as elegant as any princess, and was just as arrogant. Money had that effect on all of her family.
“Where were you Elya? The captain said he couldn’t wait any longer, but I managed to convince him otherwise. Do tell, what was the holdup?”
“I had to say goodbye to everyone.”
Alarie looked haughtily at her younger cousin. “Please, don’t tell me you cannot bear to part with someone who works in a port! It’s a good thing you are, for once, getting away from Numen. Even though it’s a lovely city, you have to detach yourself from your routine. You spend day after day studying inside your room or at school, I don’t know how you can live like that. You have to travel the world more, learn how to take care of yourself. You can start by taking a day off to sunbathe, your pale skin really needs it”.
Elya couldn’t help but look away from her cousin. Their conversations were always the same, a hurried hello and a long-winded critical speech. Everything about her was sure to be insulted by Alarie: her pale skin, her short height, her quiet voice, her attire, her choice of study.
“I’ll take time off when we get to Kindlire”, Elya said, knowing she was actually planning to leave Alarie and her advice the first chance she got.
“Of course you will. If we are staying at the Ramile Mansion, then we will have access to the best facilities. You simply must try the scented baths, they are heavenly!” The Ramile Mansion in Kindlire was one of the many establishments that her family had. Elya and Alarie had relatives in almost every large city. To someone like Alarie it was sheer pleasure, to go from one city to another getting the best treatment. For Elya it made things more complicated, as it would be hard for her to go unrecognized if her distant cousins and uncles were nearby. After all, almost all of her family knew the Ramile Estate here in Numen —where Alarie lived— and they all had come to visit Elya’s family on their way.
Elya, lost in her thoughts due to Alarie’s recommendations, was brought back from her reverie by a distant sound. She recognized it as the signal used by boats to announce a departure. She instantly turned around, ignoring her cousin’s reproachful looks, and found Birseo among the small crowd gathered to see the boat off. She waved at him, trying not to look gloomy. That would make things even harder for her friend. He seemed to be much older than her, but he wasn’t even twenty-five yet.
Birseo waved back as the boat started moving away from him. They both continued until they could no longer see each other, then they each went back to their own lives. Each feeling a loss, and one that might have been prevented.
To erase all thoughts from her mind, Elya decided to take a small tour of the boat. The trip to Kindlire was eleven days by foot; three days by boat, due to the mild wind. As the crew showed the boat’s every corner to the two cousins, Elya couldn’t help but think that she wasn’t meant to be wealthy. The treatment she was receiving was making her uncomfortable. In her city of Numen she could walk unnoticed, wearing the traveler’s clothes that her family so despised. However, with her cousin proclaiming their heritage to anyone that would listen, it was hard to disappear into a shadowy corner of the boat to sulk by herself.
“Yes, we are both of the Ramile family. We are just going to visit our relatives in Kindlire for a week or two. Ah, I do believe this must be our rooms”, Alarie said as she saw the most luxurious sleeping quarters in the boat. Elya smirked, she had chosen to have a smaller room, not just so she could save money, but because she detested such flamboyant displays of luxury.
As Alarie inspected her room, Elya went to her own. There was a bed, a wooden closet and a small table with a matching chair; that was as far as furniture went. There were a few circular windows and a mirror, apart from that there was nothing else of note. As she put down her bag, the sword and its sheath on top of the bed, she started searching her bag for one of her notebooks. She pulled it out and started searching through the handwritten pages for the heading ‘Water Magic’. Since she was in a boat, she reasoned, it would be nice to practice some water spells. She was sure the crew wouldn’t mind, they were probably not from her city of Numen, and not many others places were so close-minded about magic.
She flipped through the pages until she found a general explanation of how to freeze things. She had done this before, had even practiced it in class, but she liked to review things before doing them. After skimming through a page Elya put her things in the closet, then placed an air spell so that no one would be able to open it by hand. Afterwards she exited her room, careful not to meet her cousin, and went to the deck.
The air was warm as they left the Umarie lake, whose southwestern border bore the Numen port. They didn’t go at a tremendous speed, as the Nereid, the boat they were in, was wind powered and the air was relatively calm. Most people were outside enjoying the day, for rides were always short.
The longest time one would ever spend in a boat was probably eight days, or ten if the weather was particularly mild. It wasn’t a long time. This was easy to explain, however, considering the section of the world people could live in was very limited. The world Elya inhabited, named Nispes by the church, had certain barriers. Six connecting walls, which formed a sort of hexagon, blocked anyone inside them from leaving. The walls, of course, were not physically present. However, even though no one was sure how they worked, whoever got close to these barriers seemed to feel something strange surge within them, which would make them faint. It was a very effective way to keep people in.
There had been rumors, mainly among the magical community, that a great sorcerer had found a way to breach these barriers. He had headed to specific locations and tried to defeat certain guardians, or keepers. These were rumored to guard a God each, totaling six Gods, as there was one per element. He had defeated two of them, the keepers of fire and air, but then he had been killed on his way to the next one. No one was sure who had killed him, as in every telling of the story or writing of it the murderer varied. However, according to one of Elya’s more reliable books, the church had sent emissaries to get rid of this sorcerer before he defeated all of the keepers.
The church, before and now, was the main group that set restrictions on magic. They were there to help the public worship the six Gods, according to them, and were very strict in their magic policies. Since everyone believed that the six Gods were the source of the different types of magic (fire, water, air, ground, light and darkness), then the church didn’t want to overexert the Gods, and tried not to teach very advanced magic. Also, they prohibited any magic that called upon the God of Darkness, as they deemed this to be an unholy practice.

Elya tried to find a place in the deck where no one would see her, but to no avail. To make things worse, Alarie found her and went straight towards her, making sure that she would not be able to think about anything of importance for a while. This time she wore an orange dress with lace.
“You haven’t changed your clothes! Frankly, I don’t know how you can stand to wear those garments. You are, at least, wearing a flowing attire, as women should, but my seamstress could still do much to change that… outfit. It just makes you look like a vulgar peasant, or rather, a solitary sorceress with no money. You do realize that using magic is the hardest way to make a living? You should follow my example, my little Elya, and marry a handsome knight. It is the easiest way to make a living like the royalty we are. Oh, thank you”
How typical, Elya thought, she will only stop criticizing when others are rendering her a service. This time it was giving her a cool drink, which surely had alcohol in it. “No, thank you” Elya told the man offering her a glass with some orange liquid. Alcohol, along with other substances like hallucinogens, tended to affect the drinker to the point that all of his or her magic was weakened. It was logical, concentration was needed to call upon any of the six powers, so anything that affected it would lower one’s magical capacity. The effects were temporary most of the time, but magicians liked being cautious.
Elya smiled mischievously at her cousin, who was delicately sipping her drink. I’m not going to see her much after these days, Elya thought, so why bother pretending I can stand her… Elya erased Alarie’s voice from her mind, and concentrated on finding the power of water. She drew it towards her, centered it in her right index, modified it and touched her cousin’s glass.
The orange drink turned a lighter color as the temperature lowered and it froze, Alarie’s lips freezing along with it. It was a funny sight, the delicate lady with her lips stuck to the drink, muttering incomprehensively. Before she could be glared at Elya left, thinking of all the good uses magic had.

Chapter 2

Alarie decided that the best punishment for Elya was to be deprived of her cousin’s company. After all, Alarie reasoned, what could be worse than losing such great companionship? In her mind it was chastisement enough for having made her suffer so. After Elya had left, a sailor had discovered what had happened, and went to look for another magic caster to reverse the effect of Elya’s spell. When he didn’t succeed in his search, they took Alarie to the kitchen and had her immerse the bottom of the glass on a pot with hot water. After a few minutes, the ice became liquid, and Alarie’s lips were free. For an hour or two her lips were a bit stiff and had a hint of purple, during which time she refused to leave her room. Afterwards, when she looked as splendid as before, she decided to parade herself around the Nereid, pretending nothing had happened.
Elya took advantage of her solitude to enjoy the little time she had in this trip. It was early afternoon, so there was entertainment on board. Knowing she would rather be by herself, Elya went opposite the dancers, to the stern. Since she had nothing with her except her magic, she decided to practise a bit. She bent down, leaned towards the river, and started concentrating on the fish and other beings living in its depths. She seemed to be mentally asking them if they needed healing. As this was one of Elya’s stronger points, she made sure to practise healing often, to make sure she didn’t weaken.
First, a jellyfish came to the surface of the water. Part of it had been cut off, it seemed to be caused by a snag rather than a bite from another animal. Elya drowned out the sounds of the festivities nearby, and found the power of light around her. Taking a hold of it and directing it towards the jellyfish, she started to heal it. She watched as the missing part slowly grew back until the jellyfish looked like it had never been hurt. It floated for a few more seconds on the surface, close to Elya, then left. Elya was happy she was able to help, even though most healers would be able to do that quite easily, if more slowly. Healing animals with very simple structures, no skeleton or other vital organs was not hard, it had taken less than half a minute for Elya to heal the jellyfish. Of course, as the animals became more complex healing was more difficult, and humans had the bad luck of being one of the most complex animals. That was why herbs, infusions and other cures were commonly used alongside magic.
Elya repeated her call, and after some time a fish came into view. This one had clearly been bitten recently, the fins on its back were missing, as was part of its flesh, and it was trailing blood. Elya cast her healing spell the same way she had done before, but because of the complexity of the fish she had to maintain the spell for a longer time. When she was done the fish looked healthy. It swam in a peculiar formation before diving into the river again. Elya was fascinated by it, she loved seeing how different animals expressed themselves.
One would expect Elya not to eat meat, like many healers, but she would eat anything. The way she saw things, humans had to eat things that lived, whether they liked it or not. The difference between eating a plant and an animal wasn’t that great. She had healed plants before, like the flowers in her windowsill. She knew that they were also alive, even though it was hard to understand the way they expressed themselves. They might thank her for a healing by growing flowers more quickly, or by turning towards her rather than the sun. Of course, many would say that noticing things like this would make Elya a secluded hermit. She knew she was quite lonely, but she didn’t mind that much, otherwise she would have changed.

Elya kept on healing, though only a few animals responded to her call. She couldn’t help but think that there were not many species left in the waters, as humans fished at such a pace that sea-bound populations couldn’t reproduce fast enough, their numbers were declining. Slowly darkness fell and the music in the Nereid subsided. Elya decided to have something to eat before going to sleep. She headed towards the bow, where the party had been, and looked for an empty table. There were none, so she chose a table occupied by someone who looked like he was from Kindlire. His skin was darker than that of the people of Numen, his hair had a reddish tone. As Elya knew, the people of Kindlire were mostly acceptant of magic, and many of them were adepts at fire magic to some extent. The person Elya was about to sit next to seemed to be a bit travel-worn, but not unfriendly or too old, possibly in his late twenties.
“May I sit here?” Elya asked. The man nodded, so she sat down. After someone had come to ask her what she wanted for dinner, she tried to make some conversation with the man from Kindlire. He was very quiet, she only managed to confirm where he was from and that his name was Iramo.
After both of them had eaten, the dancers came back. Iramo seemed to be just as uninterested in them as Elya was, he was staring at the sea with glassy eyes. Elya tried to talk to him again, and when she noticed he was only talking in grunts and nods she halted her attempts. A few minutes afterwards someone came offering them drinks, which they both refused. Iramo had seemed a bit surprised, as most young girls loved to drink, especially in front of others. “I would rather keep my magic” Elya told Iramo, answering his unvoiced question. “And you are from Numen?” he inquired. Elya nodded in reply. She knew most people in Numen weren’t magic users, and even fewer of them bothered to keep their magic intact. Apparently, Iramo knew as well.
Elya found out he was a swordsman who used fire magic, which didn’t surprise her. That was what most were trained to be in Kindlire, from a very young age. Elya took advantage of their conversation to find where the magic guild was located in Kindlire. Magic guilds were usually found in every large city, with the exception of Numen. They were the perfect place for magic users. There were many activities, like magic competitions and conventions to discuss magic methods, and they were also great places to find jobs dealing with magic. There were sheets upon sheets of paper where people in need of a service wrote down their pleas, and all magic users needing some money would look for a job that would suit them. The lack of a magic guild in Numen had forced Elya to hire Birseo to help her find jobs, and it all had to be done undercover. It would be quite a nice experience to look for a job with other mages advising her on jobs that would be challenging, or which people were best to avoid. After all, Elya would have to do some jobs to gain money for her trip, which would probably last for quite a long time.
When most people had left their tables and went to their rooms to sleep, or perhaps do something else, Elya decided she better sleep if she wanted to be able to wake up the next morning. Not that she had to rise early, but she liked being awake when everyone else wasn’t, to appreciate the calm reigning in those hours. Iramo raised his hand in goodbye, then left. She waited a few minutes, contemplating the moon brightly placed in the sky, then went to her room.
She opened the door and went in. The first thing she did was check to make sure that her things hadn’t been touched. When she asserted that everything was in order, she locked her door with a quick spell, then opened her leather bag. She took her sleeping gown from the bag, careful not to let anything fall from her bag, as it had taken her a lot of time to compact all the things she had wanted to take with her into it. Elya looked out of the windows, making sure no one was looking in at her, then changed. She lay on her bed for some time, missing the comfort of her own bed, then fell asleep.

Elya woke up with the sun in her face. She took half an hour to enjoy her new freedom, then decided to get up. After changing and securing everything in her room, she unlocked the door and left to the bathroom. Elya had made sure to wear something different from what she had yesterday, just so Alarie would have one thing less to criticize her about, although both thought the other was hopeless anyway.
Elya spent much of the day thinking by herself, away from the rest of the people in the Nereid. When there were too many people that couldn’t be avoided she tended to stay around the group that was returning to Kindlire. She took advantage of their presence to practise some fire magic. As they became more used to her presence, by mid-afternoon, they held a contest to see who could evaporate water faster. To make things fair, the people from Kindlire said, they would divide into two age groups. Elya was obviously in the younger age group, so the competition wasn’t very hard. The group was surprised when Elya was the fastest, as they knew she was from Numen, and the rest of the group cast almost exclusively fire magic. The winner in the other group was Iramo. Elya wasn’t stunned by this, when she sat next to him the previous day she realized he was quite good, even before he had told her he used magic.
Some of the people that had participated in the contest wanted Elya and Iramo to face each other in another challenge. As Elya wasn’t sure how good he would be, she decided to look like she was nervous and uncertain that she could win. “You can have a small advantage” Iramo told her, he seemed to be keen on facing her now that everyone was looking. “Fine” Elya said, “but make it fast, I’d rather not be laughed at for too long”. That made some of the spectators reluctant to let the competition go on, but she smiled and told Iramo that he could choose what they would do.
After some time spent thinking, Iramo told the people gathered that they would compete in air magic, as it wouldn’t be fair to compete in his specialty, fire. Elya assured him that she was better at white magic but that she didn’t specialize in anything. So, the competition would be fair, they decided, and no one needed an advantage. They both knew that they were getting slowly further away from the source of air magic, as they travelled along the Remar river, so they should do something that wasn’t very exhausting. Elya and Iramo decided to see which one of them would be able to move things further away within a set amount of time. They wanted to move something heavy, to make it more of a challenge, so one of the spectators asked a sailor what they could use. The pair and their public waited, and a few minutes later some sailors came with two anchors. The pair smiled at each other, they would be suitable.
By now the crowd watching was getting larger. Sailors came to watch, as well as some people from Numen. The latter seemed to be fascinated by magic, probably because it wasn’t a common sight in their hometown. As a few individuals placed the anchors next to each other, the crowd parted to give the two more room to move the anchors. There was a lane in front of the anchors, so they could be moved forward by the two mages and the anchors wouldn’t hit anyone. Elya and Iramo stood behind the anchors, ready to use air magic. The younger of the two realized that she didn’t have an advantage, so in return she wouldn’t hold back.
They agreed that five seconds would be enough to see which one of them was better. One of the sailors was to count out loud, and to act as a judge. They had chosen him because he was neither from Numen nor Kindlire, so they deemed him to be impartial. Elya and Iramo got ready, breathed deeply, found the power of air around them and waited for the signal.
“Now!” the sailor said. The power Elya had been gathering was released to surround her anchor, which first started hovering, then moved forward along the lane. “Three… two…” Her mind had to listen to the sailor’s voice and concentrate at the same time… “One…” Elya gave the anchor a last push, then let it hover gently down. “Stop!”
Elya shook her head to clear it, then looked at the anchors. Hers was behind Iramo’s, which meant she had lost. However, she noticed that where the other anchor lay there was quite a dent on the floor. Obviously Iramo had just let the anchor drop, so as not to lose time making it descend. He, and some of the crowd, had noticed this. “Should we try again?” he asked Elya, who responded that another try might make a hole in the Nereid, and that she’d rather not sink.
After that she went to have dinner. The rest of the group assembled followed, and they all went in high spirits. Luckily for Elya, only Iramo sat at her small table, anyone else would have asked her how she was able to move things like that. Both of them had a good time. They mostly talked about magic, as was to be expected.
“I really am glad you are stopping by the magic guild in Kindlire. You might not know this, but in guilds you can get various jobs to do based on your abilities. There is a test you can take when you’re ready to pass to the next level. Being a rookie is easy, the test isn’t very hard to pass. To become an intermediate or advanced magic-user, you will probably have to practise for a long time. And, to become a sage, you have to have performed a deed that would be almost impossible for others to do. Because of that, most sages are old, and don’t live long enough to be able to really rejoice for their accomplishments”. Elya laughed, and thought it would be nice to be called a sage, even though it would be hard. Maybe, she thought, if I succeed in beating a keeper and getting to the God of an element, I will be called a sage… All that her thoughts accomplished was making her more nervous, so she urged Iramo to continue talking.
“If you want I can ask them to let you be tested for the intermediate level. Usually a few years of observation are required before the test is performed, but since you come from another town they might let you try straight away. Testing for rookie level only requires you reach a certain level in one type of magic, for intermediate you need to be proficient in two types of magic. The advanced level is reached by great abilities in three types of magic. Being a sage requires proficiency in all types of magic— except dark magic, of course— and the accomplishment of a feat almost impossible to others.”
“Well, it seems to be very organized and well thought-out. Most people in Kindlire are at least rookies, right?” Iramo nodded in response to her question. Elya wished things were like that in Numen, her hometown. “May I ask you, what level are you in?” Iramo smiled and told her he was in the advanced level, something she didn’t doubt.
“You know something?” Iramo asked Elya, “when you sat down next to me I thought you were just another rich person from Numen”. Elya made a face at his comment, she hated being thought of like that. “The thing that startled me was not that you didn’t drink, but that I hadn’t noticed that you were a magic user. Usually I am able to recognize anyone with promising magical ability, but in your case I couldn’t”. Elya smiled inwardly, she liked hiding her magical abilities. Most people wouldn’t bother, or they might even want to pretend they were better than in actuality, to seem more menacing. Yet, she would rather have the advantage of being underestimated, or of being thought of as a normal person.
After eating, a few people came to congratulate the pair of magic users, which then headed to their respective rooms. On the way Elya stopped to see the Cruate forest not far away from the Nereid, to the west. The trees were quite tall, but not much else could be seen at this late hour. Thus, Elya headed back to her room. However, she had the misfortune of encountering Alarie on her way. Apparently the more delicate of the two cousins didn’t like the other one to take the crowd’s attention away.
“Have you managed to enchant everyone in the boat with your good looks? Or would you rather have me make a love potion for you to distribute freely?” Elya asked. Alarie glared at her, bothered by that last comment. Evidently, Alarie hadn’t impressed anyone greatly. They must all have forgotten about her heritage the moment of the magic competitions. “No, thank you” Alarie responded coolly, “but I do see that you have been keeping everyone entertained with your antics. If making a show for sailors is the only way to attract attention, then I refuse to stand out. Partaking in such activities will get you a very bad reputation. I know you probably don’t mind, my dear young hermit, but think of all the other Members of the Ramile family being disgraced by your actions. The only thing you seem to have inherited from the Ramiles is your lack of clumsiness… and your money, of course”.
Elya was a bit stunned, Alarie would usually insult her in a more delicate and subtle way. Of course, she thought, having your cousin stick your lips to your drink and then take everyone’s attention from you must have bothered you, my dear cousin. “Well, say whatever you like, if it helps vent your frustration and envy. As for me, I’m going to my ‘peasant’s chamber’ to sleep. That is what you call it, am I right? Well, I must say, I have better uses for this money.” Alarie looked incensed at her cousin’s lack of reaction, and tried again to insult her in a painful way. “Yes, I’m sure there are better uses you can put that money to. If you want, when we get to Kindlire you can show me what exactly are the best things to buy. Tarot cards, perhaps? Potion ingredients or voodoo dolls? What other artifacts of torture and darkness do plan to acquire? I couldn’t be more glad that Numen prohibits the use of dark magic, otherwise I might have been killed already, by a person like you”.
“That’s pure speculation. Learn a bit about magic before lecturing me on it. Good night”. With that Elya left to her room. Once she was in, she locked the door and threw herself on her bed.
‘Well, I do carry tarot cards’ she thought. ‘Although the church went too far in banning them, all they do is predict the future, more accurately if the person doing the reading is proficient in magic. Voodoo dolls I would never carry, if only because of their impracticality’. Elya smiled, obviously her cousin had listened attentively at the masses in the Numen church. This was the kind of thing they accused magic users of having. ‘Potions. I never really liked potions. They are quite hard to do on the go, as all the ingredients are hard to find and have to be fresh, or in some cases marinated for a certain amount of time. Spells are much better’.
Even though she knew she wasn’t doing anything wrong —she had never hurt anyone with her magic— Elya seemed to be bothered by what her cousin said. Hiding all that she knew and possessed wasn’t easy. Even magical items were banned by the church. Things she carried on her person, like a channeling talisman used to cast spells faster, would cause her a short-term imprisonment by order of the church if it were found in her possession. Elya knew why. The church was very powerful, and tried to control magic. One way to do it was to restrict how much magic people used. Banning magical charms and amulets was one way, another was not teaching magic after a certain level. And, Elya had the suspicion, sages were probably persecuted in secret, leading to their early demise.
Overall, Elya thoroughly mistrusted the church. They were able to give hope to the people, but that was as far as their positive actions went. They wanted control over others, so they restricted magic users’ abilities by not letting anyone learn too much. They claimed they were doing this so as not to exhaust the power of the Gods, but most scholars and magic users knew better. The sources of power seemed to be inexhaustible, as far back as anyone could remember the power stayed the same. From some news Birseo had told Elya, magic users seemed to think that the church was trying to hold people back. They were afraid of what they couldn’t use, and as many in the church reprimanded magic, they didn’t use it.
Elya had practiced every type of magic, even dark magic. Of course, not all kinds of dark magic. She read about all of black magic’s uses: cursing, using necromancy, damaging and destroying. She had only practiced destroying, and even then it was against inanimate objects. This, she thought, couldn’t be considered terrible. After all, the same could be achieved with fire, air, or other kinds of magic.
When she realized she was almost falling asleep, Elya got up and changed. She then went to bed, with too many thoughts circling her head for her to be able to get a good night’s sleep.

The next day was relatively calm, at least for Elya. After yesterday, many more people took part in some new competitions they had thought up. The sailors seemed to be keen to let them go on, they probably wanted to use them as entertainment for later trips and were trying to remember some of the activities. However, most of the magic being cast was fire magic, as there were people from Kindlire on the boat, and almost no one from Numen was good with magic. That made the tasks quite repetitive, so Elya left to practice on her own.
After deciding to practice air magic, Elya chose a target. A particularly run-down eucalyptus was at the edge of the forest nearby, so she concentrated on it. She drew the power of air towards the tree, increased the pressure of the air around it, then released it. The air expanded, destroying the tree while doing so. Twigs and small pieces of bark flew everywhere, a testimony of the power of the spell. Elya spent most of her day like this, practicing spells, until the afternoon, when she could see the port of Kindlire in the distance. She went to her room and took her things, soon after she was done, the alarm sounded to signal their imminent arrival. As she heard rustlings in the nearby rooms, Elya left and went towards the starboard, where a ramp was attached to the ship so the passengers could descend.
She waited there for Iramo. He came after a few minutes, talking with a group of people from Kindlire. He seemed to be much more open now, something Elya had hoped would happen.
“Well, I might be seeing you in the guild” Elya told him. He said he hoped so, and they descended the ramp. When they had gotten to the bottom, and Elya was assuring the rest of the group that she would be fine without a tour guide, Alarie came down from the Nereid.
“Well, my dear cousin, are you ready to go to the Ramile mansion? Ah, look, there’s already a wagon waiting for us. Let us go in”. Elya wasn’t sure if she should follow her cousin, but decided it was better to pretend she wanted to be in her family’s mansion. “Sure” Elya said, and turning to the crowd, “Goodbye everyone!”

Chapter 3

The horse-drawn carriages went at a pace slow enough for Elya and Alarie to be able to enjoy the scenery. The small, rough streets provided a way to pass between the relatively tall dwellings of the Kindlire citizens. People passed near the carriage windows, their tanned skin and hair in red hues standing out against the abodes, silver in the moonlight. Some of those who were close to the carriage subtly peeked in, although their curiosity was quickly satiated. With such a small section of the world living beings could reside in, travellers were very common.
After a couple of minutes the carriage halted to a stop. As Elya and Alarie descended from it, the gates to the Ramile mansion opened. A building with splendour only comparable to a palace stood behind the gates. If Elya hadn’t already seen a mansion like this one in her hometown, she would have gaped at it. Her cousin, however, kept her head high and showed no sign of having seen something so magnificent. They walked in, a servant leading the way through the gardens. Once they came close to the doors of the mansion, two servants opened them and allowed the two cousins in. As soon as she had stepped on the white marble floor, Elya saw one of her aunts coming to greet her, finely dressed for the occasion.
“You finally made it, dears! Ah, Alarie, you look gorgeous! That blue dress brings out the colour of your eyes, you have a wonderful appreciation for garments! And Elya, still choosing an attire of such simplicity? I must say, not many people of our status choose to wear what might make them walk unnoticed in the streets. However, we all know you are different from us, and you may wear whatever you desire” Well, Elya thought, at least she isn’t insulting me yet. “Shall I show you the mansion? Alarie, you have seen it already, but I daresay, it merits another contemplation.”
And with that, the cousins were shown the grand manor. Servants consistently rushed in and out of rooms, trying to stay out of sight. Elya couldn’t help but think that these servants had worked much more than she had, yet they would never be able to afford to live in a place even remotely similar to her house. She got jealous glances as she strode alongside her parading relatives. ‘How can they keep their heads high? How can they ignore those glares? How can they enjoy this kind of attention?’ That was all Elya managed to think, even the grandeur surrounding her seemed to lose its radiance when she saw it. Sculptures depicting beautiful maidens, tapestries, gold statues; all lost their value in Elya’s eyes. When guided to her sleeping quarters, in all of their glory, she could only manage to say “beautiful”, and even then quite half-heartedly.
After the tour was done it was time for a late dinner. Despite the heat, many oil lamps and candles were lit, as nighttime would come early for the next few weeks. The food was different from that of Numen. In her hometown Elya would eat more fish than meat, some vegetables and not much fruit. Here, rice and meat were more abundant, although every kind of food was always present at the Ramile table. The cooks have probably worked very hard to bake these, Elya thought as sweet pies and cakes were carried to the table for desert. I can imagine aunt giving the servants what was left over, choosing to make them cook too much rather than make enough for the three of us.
“But where is our uncle?” Alarie asked. As the alcohol began having an effect on her she became much more open, and quite pink in the face. Her aunt seemed to be undergoing the same changes. “Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but I don’t think I will be chastised for telling you. He went to the port to meet Lazero, as a boat has just arrived from Mavelar city, his hometown.” With that, Alarie let out a squeal of joy, which she quickly stifled. Elya looked away from her cousin. She knew who Lazero was, he had been mentioned quite a few times in her household. A young knight, one that had successfully protected the major of his city against a pair of assassins, and all Alarie could hope for. Even though he had a quiet past —he had been a common boy interested in swordsmanship— he rose quickly through the ranks. Now that he was a knight he was given scores of money and prestige, a myriad of marriage proposals followed. All young maidens wanted this knight in shining armour for themselves, the knowledge that she had been chosen made Alarie ecstatic. Of course, knowing the illustriousness the Ramile family had, it hadn’t been very hard to choose. A family whose wealth dated back for a fair number of generations, the Ramile family had made their wealth by managing trades. That was why they had family members in almost every corner of the world, and why they could afford such glamorous dwellings.
Elya’s mind tuned out the rest of the conversation between her aunt and cousin, as it was becoming increasingly more giddy and loud. As she was thinking of finding a map of the city, to be able to navigate it by herself, the sounds of the main door being opened brought her back to reality. Her uncle came in first, dressed in a rich burgundy colour. His skin was tanned from years spent in Kindlire, but his dark hair revealed his origin. Like many in the Ramile family he was born in Numen, the bustling trading town Elya was from.
Closely after him followed Lazero. He was tall, with dark blond hair and amber eyes. Judging by his looks, he could be twenty-five at most. That would suit Alarie, who was only a few years younger. He came in walking a bit more self-consciously than Elya’s uncle. Evidently he hadn’t been raised in a rich household, and sudden wealth had made him carry himself that way. After watching him for a few moments, Elya felt that he wasn’t an adept of any kind of magic. That didn’t bother her, as she doubted she could even get to talk to him about magic in front of her dear cousin.
“This is my sublime niece, Alarie Ramile”. With that Alarie rose from her seat, in a very delicate way to make a good first impression. With all she’s drunk, Elya thought, I doubt her coordination will stay with her for very long. Lazero went towards the older of the two cousins, kissed her hand and stood back to wait for the upcoming introductions. “This is my wife, Benia Ramile Teri”. Introductory salutes were made, with much curtseying. “And this is my other niece, Elya Ramile”. The aforementioned girl stood up, and smiled at Lazero. She knew he had looked down upon her from the moment he had stepped into this room. Like everyone else present, he saw her vestment as a rudeness unacceptable at the Ramile table.


Er, the rest of chapter 3 is in the next section, it didn't all fit into this item