Magical Essence

Thank you everyone for commenting on the last story, my apologies for taking a little too long to post the second installment. I have been working on the next chapter for Dade as well (which should be up soon too). Please leave comments. Enjoy.

Scene I:

New Beginnings

Eliza grumbled something to herself as she pushed open the cabin door, 'These people here, all crazy, more than one apprentice...', she shook her head. The trio had now been in Tevrin for a few weeks, and everyone had started to get settled. Eliza had eased over the small fiasco about Gavin, but he was to stay concealed on their grounds, and only to leave escorted by herself. She looked towards Gavin, he was cooking at the stove—he had proved to be an exceptional cook, better than both Meredith and herself. The three had been eating better than they had ever before, partly due to Gavin's ability to cook, but mostly due to Eliza's Ambassador position.

The Head Magi had asked Eliza to choose at least one more apprentice, because of the influx of growth in Tevrin, there were not enough Mentors for new magical students. The town had passed a new law mandating at least two apprentices for each Mentor, in some cases when approved, a Mentor could have up to four. This was something that Eliza was totally against, in the old days, something like this would have been thought as a "dark magic" calling. Unless a Mentor was attempting to create his own small army, there was absolutely no reason to have more than one apprentice, but it seems that law prevails over tradition once again.

But something else had perplexed Eliza since they arrived in Tevrin, Gavin's aura had been growing, ever so slightly, but still growing. Back when the guard attempted to weaken him, she thought that the spell had just misfired, but was now believing that Gavin had inadvertently reflected the spell back on the guard. Gavin had been experiencing a severe case of magical drain probably from the lack of use of his magical powers. Even as she was walking home, it had not struck her, but her eyes opened up when she came across the solution to her problem, in fact, two of her problems.

"Gavin, come over here, right now", Eliza looked over at Meredith, and beckoned for her to join them as well. Meredith was most definitely not going to like this, she had already been tormenting Gavin for the past few weeks, but that was probably mainly due to what Eliza had made her do. Eliza had a long laugh after she found out that Gavin woke up, and Meredith had not talked to her for nearly a month. "The Head Magi, in all of his brilliance, requires me to choose at least one other apprentice. They passed some absurd law about a minimum of two apprentices to Mentors, I do not agree with it, but I can't argue."

Meredith groaned, not only had she been dealing with Gavin, but now she was going to have to deal with another apprentice. 'Direct competition, I hate competition.', she thought. Meredith stood out of her chair and began towards the door. Eliza called after her, but Meredith was set to be in one of her moods for a few hours. The best thing Eliza thought, was to let her vent, and then get ready for the big change. She was going to appoint Gavin as her new apprentice.

"Gavin, I am going to choose you as my new apprentice," Eliza mused, she was wondering why it took her so long to actually come up with this. Gavin's mouth was stuck open, he was not able to respond, so she just continued. "Of course, they are going to require you to show them some sort of demonstration to make sure that you are of magical essence", she shook her head, "But no problem. We'll have a bit until that." Eliza looked outside to where Meredith was standing, practicing a spell on one of the targets they have set up, "Go tell Meredith the news, and we'll begin on your first training shortly. Supper is still a bit off."

Gavin could not believe it, but he could not even comprehend it. 'I am going to be a mage? I am going to be an apprentice?', he shook his head, 'No, I am just a place holder.' He walked out to Meredith, she was surely beautiful, dressed in green robes due to her apprenticeship, her hair was tied back and she seemed focused on the task. She uttered a few incantations, pointed her wand, and a purple haze hit the target directly on. The next spell was green, and sprialled just how a bird would if struck down by a hunter. The third was a small blue orb, traveling at a fast speed, and hit the target with enough force to push it to the ground. He walked up behind Meredith, not sure what to say, so he stood there for a few minutes before she broke the ice.

"What does Eliza want now? Has she chosen my replacement yet?", Meredith scowled, firing off another 'Weaken' spell, the target glowing with a purple haze. Gavin did not speak, as he was not sure how she would react, and Meredith got frustrated turning towards him. "What did she say? You would not be here if she had not told you to tell me something! Speak!"

Gavin did speak, in a low voice, "Me", his eyes trailed off looking at the targets lined up. Meredith did not understand what he meant, and pushed him lightly to get him out of his daze. He shook his head, looking at her directly in the eyes, "Me, I am the new apprentice." Meredith's eyes almost budged out of her head.

"You! YOU! First she brings you here, a commoner, and then she appoints you her apprentice? What next? Are you going to be her lover?", she yelled, firing off many quick 'Missile' spells, striking all the targets directly on and pushing them on the ground. "I am tired of this. I am no where near up to par with these others, and I am now second to a commoner." She shoved him hard, and he tripped and fell on his back. "What can YOU do?", she pointed her wand at him, "What? Tell me? I want to know! Why did she choose you?"

Gavin swallowed hard, he was now looking up at Meredith whom was pointing her wand at him, he had to make sure not to tempt her, "I do not know Meredith, you are in the dark as much as I am!" He watched for her to change her posture, but stood immobile like a rock. "Meredith?", Gavin looked towards the house and saw Eliza striding towards them. "Eliza, she was just, we were having a conversation..."

"Why do you feel the need to defend her?", she removed the wand from Meredith's hand, "She has been nothing but a bitch to you as of late, I still do not understand why you put up with that." Eliza handed the wand to Gavin, "The easiest spell to learn, the very first that all magi learn, is the spell called 'Lighten.' As you may have guessed, this spell is used to create an instant light from the tip of your wand. The incantations are not hard to remember, nor speak, and it should be fairly easy for you." Eliza opened the palm of her hand, and began reciting the following.

"Aster—bron—kana Light—anta", the words seemed to roll off Eliza's tongue like it was a word that she has known for her whole life. In the palm of her hand, an orb slowly began to form pulling in particles of light from around, and after a few rotations rose into the air where she expertly guided it just in front of her face. Gavin stared, he was simply amazed that she expected him to try this, but he was not sure if he could even recite these words. Eliza once explained to Meredith that the incantations were like a recipe for food, if not done right, something awful would come out of the batch. It might not be totally off, but enough to make the result unusable.

Gavin held the wand out, slowly reciting the incantation over in his head, and he spoke the words out loud, "Aster—bron—kana Light—anta" The wand erupted into a blinding glow, Gavin immediately dropped it and shielded his eyes. The ball of light grew around the wand, three, four, five times larger than Eliza's had, six, seven, eight—Eliza yelled out an incantation and the ball of light winked from existence. Gavin rubbed his eyes with both of his hands trying to remove the image from them, and then looked up at Eliza who was merely staring at him with a gaping mouth.

"Mast...Eliza... my apologies, I have never done this and..," Gavin spoke quickly, attempting to regain his composure and explain himself, but Eliza cut him off with a wave of her hand before he could speak anymore. She was impressed, well beyond impressed actually, and she knelled down picking up the wand. It was hot to the touch, she threw it down on the ground as the extreme heat dissipated from its shaft.

"Gavin...that was very...how did you do that?", her eyes were transfixed on his face, waiting for a reply. 'This boy is powerful, and he does not even know it', she thought to herself, 'His first spell, and he nearly blinds both of us. Got it right on the first incantation.' But the most interesting thing that Eliza found was that the spell increased in power when Gavin had already dropped the wand on the ground. She could feel his magical aura stronger, but still, nowhere near even the power that Meredith was even giving off in her immobilized state. 'Meredith!', she almost said aloud, and with that she removed the immobilization spell. Meredith rubbed her eyes hard, for she had seen everything, but being unable to shield herself had nearly burned her eye sockets out.

"How did he... I don't understand... a commoner... he just... and it blinded..," Meredith was talking a mile a minute, furiously attempting to rub the image from her eyes. Her mind was moving even faster than that, wondering if Eliza had known the whole time about Gavin, and then further—had she tried to set her up with him—why would she have done that? Meredith had so many questions, but before she could even ask all of them, Eliza had something else planned to test Gavin further.

"Meredith, pick the wand up, and walk a few paces that way," Eliza motioned towards where the targets were standing before Meredith had her fit of rage. It took a few moments for Meredith to find the wand on the ground, she tested it to make sure it was not going to burn her, and then picked it up. Meredith was just as eager to see what Gavin could do, even though she hated to have someone that was going to be competition, it intrigued her enough to not worry about that situation yet. Eliza handed Gavin the wand that she was carrying with her, it seemed like the same design, but it was a bit lighter when held. The wand was a decorated wood with black etchings all the way to the tip.

Gavin watched as Meredith walked to a dueling length, knowing full and well what was coming, but not understanding how he was going to attack back. The Magi of Tevrin often held duels between Mentors, and Apprentices to settle disputes. There was even an Olympic-style event that pitted equal-knowledgeable apprentices against each other until a ring-out, or a submission occurred. Gavin had been in Tevrin long enough to catch the glimpse of some of these duels, but there was always so much magic going on that he could not follow them. The incantations were fast, and most of the Apprentices that participated were in their later years of training. Nevertheless, he knew what a dueling position was as soon as he saw it, and he looked at Eliza pleadingly.

"Gavin, you have seen us practice the Block spell several times have you not?", Eliza really did not even need to ask, she knew for a fact that Gavin had always been listening in on their training sessions. Meredith, at first, had a problem with the Block spell and it caused them to practice it for a week straight. Gavin would often watch their progress while he was pretending to tend to the vegetable garden. He nodded, really unsure of what she was telling him, but that's the only response that he thought he could give. But before he could realize exactly what she was asking of him, Eliza nodded to Meredith, and she sputtered a quick incantation.

Gavin searched his mind to remember the words to the incantation, but he could not find them, and he found himself looking up at a laughing Meredith. The spell had hit him hard, and he put his arms at his side pushing himself up off the ground. Eliza gave Meredith another nod, and she raised her wand up at Gavin again. Meredith started her incantation, pouring all of her power into her missile spell, which traveled towards Gavin much quicker this time.

Gavin knew what was coming though, and he braced pointing his wand outward as he started to recite the incantation for the 'Block' spell in his head. A force field of bright blue surrounded his form, almost making him disappear totally from view, and Meredith's spell hit Gavin's force field dissipating on contact. Meredith fired three more spells off, frustrated that someone who had never picked a wand up before was able to defend her with ease, but she eventually gave up as Eliza raised her hand.

Eliza was indeed amazed, because Gavin's magical aura instantly sparked from something barely visible to that of Meredith's stature. This was unheard of, Gavin seemed to be so disconnected with his magical presence that it erupted from him only when called upon. She was most definitely amazed at this commoner boy, but the thing that had caught her off guard was that he never recited the spell. Eliza did a double take, but she did not recall him uttering a single word. Eliza was most perplexed by this, 'Maybe I did not hear him? He said it under his breathe? That had to be it!' She shook the thought from her head, 'Impossible!'

Gavin's perspective started to shift and his vision meshed together into a grayness. The weakness that he had felt before was overcoming him again. He had used all of his energy to block Meredith's attack, but because he was new to magic it had drained him greatly. He attempted to balance himself out by extending his arms, but soon fell to his feet as the world began spinning around him. He felt himself being lifted up by both arms as Eliza and Meredith helped him towards the cabin.

Scene II:

Recognition

Several weeks had passed since Gavin's first experience with the use of magic, and Eliza had officially designated him as her second apprentice to please the Head Magi of Tevrin. Meredith had grown impatient with Gavin and started to skip their practice sessions in favor of hanging out with Magi that she considered "up to her par." This was the second time that Gavin had felt alienated from the world of magic, and now more so, because he was now part of it.

Meredith was laughing as she walked down the trail to their cabin with three other Magi. The three were apprentices of the magi Derek, who was known for bringing up the best dueling apprentices each and every year for the Olympics. Eliza had told Meredith to stay clear of this crowd, but as stubborn as Meredith was, and as much as she was resenting Eliza she decided otherwise. The crowd of three was led by Derek's best apprentice, Jordan, a tall slender boy with a light complexion. Jordan had his sights on Meredith as soon as she entered Tevrin, and for the whole five months they had been there was attempting to court her. He was very pleased when Meredith all of the sudden had asked him for some dueling lessons, and that is how their "friendship" had started.

Eliza had told Gavin to finish the yard work as she went to deal with her Ambassador duties in the main part of Tevrin, and he was ahead of the game. Gavin found his solace in manual labor, he had done it all of his life up until this point, and he found it now relaxing from his magic training. Gavin often over exerted himself while casting spells, and Eliza had told him to use meditation techniques to bring train his mind, which he did try, but was unable to sit still for such a long time. Gavin was not fond of Jordan and his crew, but even though Meredith had been treating him horribly the past few weeks, he was always thinking for her best.

"Meredith, where is that runt of a mage that your mentor is keeping around?", Jordan mused, looking from side to side as they came upon the cabin. They often played tricks on Gavin, and messed up his yard work so he would have to get it done all over again. But as of late, Meredith had been easing off Gavin more so than before, and he did not want her to get soft on him. Gavin was not able to fight back because Eliza would not let him carry a wand, not because she did not trust him, but because she believed his magical powers were not under control yet. She did not need Gavin exploding on someone, and injuring them to the point where they could not be healed.

Meredith shrugged, "He is probably around the grounds. Eliza gives him chores to keep him busy." She did feel jealous of Gavin, Eliza had been spending most of her practice sessions teaching Gavin the ropes, and less time helping Meredith out with her spells. She had to go to Jordan for advice in dueling spells, because Meredith planned on entering the Olympics the next month as a contender. Jordan was obnoxious, but he knew his dueling skills, and that was the only reason she was staying around him.

One of Jordan's crew had pointed out Gavin on the far east end of the grounds, and Jordan raised his wand up, casting a quick 'Missile' spell hitting Gavin square in the chest. Meredith watched as Gavin struggled to stand, but he finally made it to his feet. She was starting to feel sorry for what they were doing to him, he was too proud to go to Eliza about the treatment, and these instances had been happening for weeks now. Jordan motioned towards Meredith, "Your turn, come on, hit him with a hard one!"

Meredith's need to be "one of the crew" had overcome her feelings against treating Gavin this way, and she hit him with a weak 'Missile' spell, barely causing him to stir. Unlike the others, she did not wish to hurt him, but she also wished to stay part of this new group of her friends. She down casted her eyes as Gavin looked towards her, and Jordan grunted at Meredith's weak spell.

"Meredith, what was that?", he pointed his wand towards Gavin again, uttered another incantation, this spell levitated Gavin in front of him and caused him to grasp at his throat in pain. "You need to make sure your enemy never has a chance to strike back Meredith! In a duel the pattern can change in all but a second!" Gavin gasped for air, attempting to loosen the invisible rope from around his neck, and he struggled in the air as Jordan laughed loudly.

Meredith watched in horror as Gavin was choking, she pleaded with Jordan to let loose the spell, but he refused and only levitated Gavin higher into the air. This drove Meredith over the edge, and she fired a quick 'Missile' spell at Jordan causing him to lose his focus on Gavin. Meredith rushed over to Gavin, coughed loudly but was finally able to breathe again. Jordan had already regained his bearings, and stood up pointing his wand at Meredith.

"You dare attack me wench? The one whom has been teaching you? For what? To help this commoner? This runt? I will show you, bring forth your wand, and we will duel right here!", Jordan screamed aloud, but Meredith did not move. She was not an idiot, she knew very wisely that Jordan was much better at dueling than her. He grunted, and the two other boys grabbed Gavin by the arms. Meredith was now in the middle of something she could not win, and she looked over at the helpless Gavin for support. She knew in her heart that he was ready to take anything they would throw at him, but this was her doing, and she did not want him to suffer any further maltreatment.

Meredith walked to the dueling length, and raised her wand at Jordan. The experience at dueling was shown at this point, and Jordan disarmed Meredith of her wand before she could react. Gavin struggled to get free of the grip from the two boys, but they jabbed their wands into his neck as a warning. Meredith fell to her knees, she was had been defeated, and without so much as a fight. Jordan walked over to her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulling it hard. Meredith let out a loud wail of a cry, but Jordan just pulled harder.