Tylarah awoke in the train carriage just as the day was darkening, to see that someone was sitting on the bench across from her. The blur of sleep lifted from her eyes to reveal that it was none other than her teacher, Shyrrick. He was deeply engrossed in reading a small, red leather-bound book by the orange electric glow in the compartment and did not seem to notice as she awoke and stretched.
"Hello, Shyrrick." She said cheerily.
"Good afternoon, Tylarah," he said blandly, without looking up from his book.
Great, if he was in his usual mood, then Shyrrick was not the most talkative person that Tylarah had ever met, but today she just got the feeling that he was in a downright grumpy mood. Well, she would soon sort that out. It was time to start a quick planning session to get him to talk to her, as she could not stand sitting here with him ignoring her all the way up to the Lakes. But what was she to do. Well, first off, there was the obvious question of why in Hell he was even on the train. Shyrrick was almost an Ancient, so he could easily conjure a portal with just a thought.
"So, how come you're on the train?" she asked, as coolly as she could. "I thought that you would have conjured a portal,"
Shyrrick sighed and shook his head a little, as out of politeness he could not just plainly ignore Tylarah.
"I've been ordered by the Powers to look after you," just as Tylarah was bout to protest that she was not exactly in need of protection for a simple journey up to Kendal and then on to her house in Rithran, when Shyrrick continued to speak. "Don't say that you don't need it, that's exactly what I thought. But the Powers insisted that I needed to be here, just in case,"
"In case of just what, exactly?" Tylarah asked.
"Look, I really shouldn't tell you this, but the Powers have reason to believe that there could well be somebody, or something about to come after you. A Seer by the name of Malachai has told that a woman who fits your description will play a big part in a future Prophecy."
Tylarah looked shocked, but for some reason it was not a complete surprise, and it certainly did not scare her.
"There are other women who are being watched, its not just you. Malachai is rarely wrong, so the Powers thought that it would be a lot better to be safe than sorry."
Tylarah began to mumble under her breath, something about her not wanting to have anyone following her, let alone a grumpy old Mage with the sense of humour of a deaf bumblebee.
"Don't think that I'm exactly glad to be following you around, either." Shyrrick said in a slightly scathing tone.
"And just why is that?" Tylarah said, hurt a little by his bluntness. "It's not like I'm the one that's the most boring person that I've ever met!" she began to get a little more harsh herself as she realised that he had been rather more than a little harsh.
"It's not that... well. Anyway, if you think I'm that boring, you won't want to talk to me and I can get back to my book, then." He gave a sarcastic smile then lifted his book back up in front of his face to completely block Tylarah from his view.
Great. That went perfectly to plan. There had to be something else that she could do to at least occupy herself.
She contemplated winding him up, but thought twice about it when she remembered just how powerful a Witch that he was, and that in his current mood he was likely to hex her without a second thought. So, what else was she left with?
It was only then that Tylarah actually saw what book her teacher had been reading all this time. It was the same small, red, leather-bound book that she had in her own bag. This was great; she had him now, for if there was one thing that Shyrrick could not resist, it was an intelligent conversation. She would have to play it cool though, he was much to clever not to see through a thin scheme, so she would have to get him round slowly.
Tylarah reached down into her bag and took out her copy of the book as if she was purely bored, and she had not noticed him at all. As she sat back to read, she coughed quietly, and made a small fuss about getting comfortable so that Shyrrick could not help but notice her moving. On thinking about what she was reading, she found it a little strange that a man like Shyrrick would be reading ancient tales of valiant heroes and romance. Well, it would never do to judge a book by its cover, as it were.
Tylarah could have sworn that she saw his eyes flick over to rest on her through the corner of her eye, but she dare not look directly at him, or he would instantly figure out what she was up to.
No, she could see him well enough out of the corner of her eye to see that he had not cottoned on to what she was up to, and he had gone back to his book. Tylarah could sense the distinct air that Shyrrick was interested. She could feel that he was paying some of his attention to her now, as well as to his book. It felt good to her, and a wave of mixed power and pleasure swept through her entire being. She was going to win this one, if it meant physically squeezing something interesting out of the man opposite her.
Tylarah almost did not believe her luck when, from behind the constant rumble of the train, Shyrrick's came smoothly to her ears.
"Erm, Tylarah, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?" she replied as coolly as she could muster, but she was sure that he could hear the shock in her tone.
"Have you got to the part where the hero finally meets his long-lost father?"
"Err, oh yes. Of course, I passed that part a while ago."