Disclaimer: None of this is mine except for Dan, Elizabeth, Elizabeth's
mom, Luna and the plot. Don't sue me, I don't have any $$ anyway.
Elizabeth Peterson stood scowling disgustedly at her reflection in the mirror. She stared at the orange hair who's color she loved, but that she could never get to make the hair-do she wanted, the green eyes that were the only other attractive feature about her in her opinion, and the multitude of hated freckles dotting her complexion. The 5' 3'' figure that was fifteen-year old Elizabeth didn't have much self-esteem and lived, not for her social life, but for her books.
Her favorite ones were the "Circle of Magic" and "The Circle Opens" series by Tamora Pierce, her favorite author. In these books the four main characters Briar Moss, Lady Sandrilene fa Toren (Sandry), Daja Kisubo, and Trisana (Tris) Chandler, had magic. Briar had plant magic, Sandry had thread magic, Tris had weather magic, and Daja had smith magic. Each teenager could do different magical workings according to his or her abilities in their field of magic. They could also speak mind-to-mind when they wished. This had resulted when Sandry, being the thread mage, wove their magics together to make them stronger as she would have woven threads together to make them stronger. She had done this to keep them alive when they were trapped underground during an earthquake. The four lived at Discipline cottage (the cottage was named for what you learned there, not because it was a punishment) in a temple community called Winding Circle. Elizabeth always wished that she could have power like they did, but she had no idea how close to getting her wish she actually was.
Hearing a knock on the door, Elizabeth went to see whom it was. Her mother opened the door to reveal a woman with shoulder-length hair and a big smile. "Mrs. Peterson?" She asked cheerfully. "Yes, may I help you?" Her mother answered. Elizabeth wondered who this was, she looked oddly familiar. "My name is Tamora, I've come to talk to you about Elizabeth. May I come in?" Her mother admitted her with a questioning look at Elizabeth. Of course! She thought, It's Tamora Pierce! I saw her picture on her website. As thrilled as she was that her favorite author of all time was sitting in her living room, she had to wonder what was going on. Taking a seat next to her mom, she listened to Tamora explain. "I've come to tell you something, but you must promise to keep and open mind about it." Tamora began.
"I can't promise anything without knowing what it is first." Elizabeth's mother replied, a bit harshly. Elizabeth could see her mom wasn't very happy or agreeable at a perfect stranger coming into her house and telling her what to do. "Elizabeth has a special gift." Tamora continued, "She has the gift of magic. Now I know it sounds strange" she hurried on when she saw Mrs. Olson about to tell her off, "But it's true. She has water magic." "Get out of my house, now." Elizabeth's mom countered, dangerously quiet. Meanwhile Elizabeth was bewildered. "Magic?" She whispered "But." She trailed off. Tamora, deciding that she'd have a better chance addressing the girl, answered "Yes, magic. I've come to take you to Winding Circle to train." That was going too far as far as Elizabeth's mom was concerned. She got up and grabbed Tamora by the collar of her shirt, but just as she was about to throw her out, she was knocked into the wall with incredible force. "Elizabeth, please leave us in private to discuss this." Tamora said calmly, eyeing her dazed mother. "Don't kill her." Elizabeth pleaded. Tamora smiled. "Don't worry, she'll be perfectly fine." Elizabeth left and went upstairs to her room. She went over to her bookshelf and grabbed her Circle of Magic and Circle Opens series from the shelf and tossed them on the bed. Then she dropped to her knees and thanked God for this. She might be going to a world where they worship many Gods, as the world in which Winding Circle lay was, but she would always have just Him. After saying her prayers of thanks, Elizabeth decided it would be best to pack a bag, but realized she didn't have one big enough for the long stay she knew she would be having there and wasn't about to go downstairs to ask for one. Instead she turned on her CD player and listened to music, anxiously awaiting the conclusion of whatever was going on downstairs. About an hour or so later Elizabeth's mother entered the room and gave her an odd look before saying "I know I'm the last person you'd expect to say this but, it's true. You.you have.magic." She said the last word with an air of bewilderment. "Tomorrow I have to take you to Winding Circle to train you. An untrained mage is a dangerous thing you know." Tamora said from behind Elizabeth's mom. Elizabeth knew from reading her books that a mage was a person with magical powers. "For now I have to go. Good-night, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon." Elizabeth sat talking to her mother long after Tamora left. Her mother now genuinely believed that she had magic and, though she would miss her very much, that she had to be trained. "Can't you come?" asked Elizabeth. Her mom smiled. "No. I live here. But Tamora promised she'd bring you home to visit often, and on every one of our holidays." Then her mom started to cry and Elizabeth cried too. They held each other and Elizabeth murmured "I'll miss you too mom." The next day, with more hugs, kisses, and tears, Elizabeth left her family for Winding Circle. Well, actually, she left her family for New Hampshire, where Niklaren Goldeye (Tris's teacher and a Great Mage) awaited them. "The way we have to get to Winding Circle is with a Great Spell. A Great Spell is a strong and difficult magical working, so I'll need his help to do it." Tamora explained. After a while, they reached their destination. Tamora and Elizabeth went out to meet a middle-aged man with a salt-and-pepper mustache and hair to match. This was Niklaren. Then he, Tamora, and Elizabeth walked down a forest trail until they got to a clearing. Here, the man took a stick and drew a wide circle around the three of them. Elizabeth knew from reading her books that this was to keep their magic contained inside the circle so that it wouldn't spread out into the world. "Niko, you better prepare her for the spell. I'll start it while you explain it." Tamora told him. As she muttered strange words under her breath, Niklaren, also known as Niko, told Elizabeth what to expect. "First there will be a flash," He began, looking her in the eye, "Then you'll feel like you're being pulled forward for a while before you stop, though I must warn you that you stop quite suddenly and might feel a bit queasy afterwards." With that he closed his eyes and began to mutter under his breath as well. After a minute or so the flash came and as Elizabeth threw up her arm to shield her eyes, she was pulled forward and would have stumbled out of the circle and the spell and ended up who-knows-where, if Niko hadn't caught her. Getting her bearings, she stood again and braced herself for the stop. When it came, instead of standing upright as she was trying to be able to do, she was thrown face-first onto the ground. Getting to her knees she looked behind her to see both Tamora and Niko hiding smiles behind their hands. She blushed, stood up, and almost threw up. Getting her stomach under control, she stumbled over to where Tamora and Niko, who she noted had not been thrown off balance, stood. Looking around she saw that they were standing in the center of the spiral road that gave Winding Circle its name. "We're going to take you to the girl's bunks." Tamora said, grabbing one of Elizabeth's bags. "Actually," Elizabeth ventured, "I was wondering if Sandry, Briar, Tris, and Daja live here, or if you made them up." Giving Elizabeth a strange look at the seemingly random question she answered:
"Of course they're real but Sandry lives with her uncle, Duke Vedris at Duke's Citadel. Briar and Tris live in Discipline, however, and Daja lives with her teacher Frostpine at his forge." "Then, I was wondering," Elizabeth continued nervously, "if I could stay at Discipline. I mean, I have just left another world, and I don't know if I want to be in a whole bunk of people who are so used to this one. I'll feel out or place. Plus, I've kind of wanted to live there with them ever since I read your books." Tamora looked at Niko who shrugged. "Well, I guess that's okay." She said, and headed off in the direction of Discipline cottage. Smiling at her good fortune, Elizabeth followed.
When they got to Discipline, Elizabeth was introduced to two teenagers and two adults. One teenager was a plump girl with hazel eyes and curly hair cropped short. She had wire rimmed glasses on her nose and a polite smile on her face. This was Tris. The other teen was a boy with dark hair and a mischievous smile. He had the golden skin and almond shaped eyes of an easterner, but the green hue of his eyes suggested western blood in one parent. This was Briar, the former thief and present plant mage. The adults wore green habits that showed they had taken their vows to dedicate their lives to the gods and goddesses of the Earth Temple. One woman had almond eyes, like Briar, and dark curly hair that framed an almost cat-like face. This was Sandry's teacher in thread magic, Dedicate Lark. The other woman was short with auburn hair and a non-biased expression that Elizabeth recognized as Dedicate Rosethorn, Briar's teacher in plant magic. Once Elizabeth settled into her room downstairs, she walked with Tamora down to the Water Temple to get a teacher to instruct her in her own field of magic. After introducing themselves and their purpose to a dedicate, Tamora and Elizabeth were told to wait a moment. The dedicate came back accompanied by another person wearing the same blue habit as the first, showing that she, too, was a dedicate of the water temple. She had long brown hair that was tied back in a horsetail and bright blue eyes. "This is Luna Moonshine", the dedicate who asked them to wait said, "She has decided to take Elizabeth on as a student." Finished with the introductions, she walked back into the temple. Luna smiled. "Hi, you must be Elizabeth." Elizabeth nodded and shook the hand that was offered to her. "Well Elizabeth, I have things to do today, so we'll start your lessons tomorrow. I decided to take on another new student today as well. His name is Dan and I told him we'd start lessons tomorrow as well. I'm sure you two will get along fine. I'll meet you here tomorrow at midday, but now I've got to go." With that she left down the spiral road. Are all dedicates this hurried? Elizabeth wondered as she walked back to Discipline.
The next day, Elizabeth went to the appointed meeting place. She saw another boy there who she assumed to be Dan. He had tan skin, and hair that had brown roots wit the rest dyed blonde. Elizabeth thought that was odd because she hadn't seen anyone else around here with dyed hair. The teen was tall and had deep blue eyes. He looked to be about seventeen years old. He's kind of cute, Elizabeth thought. "Are you Dan?" Elizabeth asked. "Yeah. Are you Elizabeth?" was the reply. "Yep. You have a sort of.accent. Where are you from?" asked Elizabeth. "Portugal." He said, "It's in another universe. I was brought here by someone named Tamora" Elizabeth took a moment to process this, though it did explain why his hair was dyed and no one else's was, before telling him that she, too, was from that universe and giving him a short version of her encounter with Ms. Pierce. Dan looked just as surprised to find that someone else here had come from his world as she had been. Just then, however, Luna walked up, cutting off any reply he might have made. "Sorry I'm late. Let's go." Elizabeth again noted Luna's hastiness. Oh well, she thought, I guess that's just the way she is. After a bit of walking the three mages arrived at the beach. "I've decided to teach your first lesson here because you are both water mages and we are lucky enough to be right on the sea. Your first lesson will be meditation. You must learn this before anything else. It's very important because it helps you keep your power in check so that you won't lose control of it and end up creating a disaster." Taking them to a spot close to the water, Luna drew a big circle around them like the one Niko had drawn around himself, Elizabeth, and Tamora. Sitting down in the circle, Luna motioned for the others to do the same. Then she instructed them to look at the waves. "Breathe in as they come up, hold your breath as they crash down, and let it out as they retreat back. Try to clear your mind." The two did as they were told and, after an hour, were told to stop. "Good job for beginners." Luna told them "We'll have to work on it though. I'll see you here again tomorrow. For homework, I want you to read the first chapter of this book." Luna handed them both a copy of a book entitled "Water. Its Power and Uses" and they all went their separate ways. The next week of lessons was exactly the same as the first; an hour of meditation followed by a chapter for homework. Throughout the week Dan and Elizabeth got to know each other better, and were becoming fast friends by the time the week was out. It seemed they had more in common than coming from the same world.
One day, after they'd had their lessons, Dan and Elizabeth were walking together on the beach, carrying on a conversation. "Hey," said Dan, "do you remember reading about how water mages can talk with water? It was in those books Luna gave us." "Sure, I remember." Agreed Elizabeth. It had been in the last chapter they'd read. "Well, I was thinking that maybe we could try it with the sea." He suggested. Elizabeth stopped. "Umm.I guess you forgot, but the book also said that large bodies of water like, let's say the sea, were easily offended and you shouldn't try and speak with them until you've studied how. Now, maybe I forgot, but I don't remember studying that." "You're just chicken. It's only talking. How hard can it be?" He countered, walking toward the water. "They wouldn't have said not to try it if it wasn't dangerous. And yes, I am chicken. In fact I'm more than that, I'm terrified. We should not be trying this! You're going to get yourself killed!" She was screaming now. He could not actually be attempting this; it was crazy! "Fine, be chicken." He said calmly, "But I won't. Wish me luck." He said as he dashed into the water. Elizabeth sat wondering what to do. Should she tell someone? But then he'd get in trouble. But what if he got hurt? But maybe he was right; maybe he'd be fine as long as he was polite. The last thought was wiped from her mind as she saw the sea begin to swell around Dan, and the intense concentration mixed with fear on his face. Leave it to him to get into trouble before she was even two minutes into her debate with herself. What am I going to do?! She thought. She couldn't get him out on her own, she knew from her reading that she wasn't powerful enough or trained enough to do that. Then she got an idea. Recently, Briar had acquired a student of his own, a stone mage named Evvy. Sand was made of stones. If she could get to Briar, he could get Evvy to make the sand lift Dan over the waves. But how to get to Briar? Suddenly she had another idea. Briar was a plant mage. Elizabeth knew that he had the ability to speak with plants, and that plants needed water to live. Maybe she could reach Briar by talking through the water being absorbed by the plants around him. She'd have to try. She reached through the sand with her magic to get to the water underneath. Traveling through it, Elizabeth found a channel of water leading to Rosethorn's garden, which, if she was right, Briar should be weeding right now. Her luck was in, Briar was doing just that. Reaching through a plant by one of Briar's feet, Elizabeth asked the water inside it to have the plant deliver a message to Briar. It agreed. Briar? It's Elizabeth. Elizabeth?! Hope soared in her heart; it had worked! She quickly explained the problem and her idea. Briar agreed to it. Please hurry! Elizabeth urged, I'll try to stall it, but I'm not sure how long I can. The sea seems very intent on hurting him. I hope I'm not too late. Gathering her magic back into herself, Elizabeth looked at Dan. The waves were rising and pushing him harshly, trying to knock him down, while the current tried to pull him under. He seemed to be concentrating hard to keep from being overtaken. Knowing if she didn't do something fast Dan would drown, Elizabeth ran into the water, not sure whether she would ever be coming out again.
Author's note: Please read and review. Do you like it? Too long? HELP ME OUT HERE! Please.
Elizabeth Peterson stood scowling disgustedly at her reflection in the mirror. She stared at the orange hair who's color she loved, but that she could never get to make the hair-do she wanted, the green eyes that were the only other attractive feature about her in her opinion, and the multitude of hated freckles dotting her complexion. The 5' 3'' figure that was fifteen-year old Elizabeth didn't have much self-esteem and lived, not for her social life, but for her books.
Her favorite ones were the "Circle of Magic" and "The Circle Opens" series by Tamora Pierce, her favorite author. In these books the four main characters Briar Moss, Lady Sandrilene fa Toren (Sandry), Daja Kisubo, and Trisana (Tris) Chandler, had magic. Briar had plant magic, Sandry had thread magic, Tris had weather magic, and Daja had smith magic. Each teenager could do different magical workings according to his or her abilities in their field of magic. They could also speak mind-to-mind when they wished. This had resulted when Sandry, being the thread mage, wove their magics together to make them stronger as she would have woven threads together to make them stronger. She had done this to keep them alive when they were trapped underground during an earthquake. The four lived at Discipline cottage (the cottage was named for what you learned there, not because it was a punishment) in a temple community called Winding Circle. Elizabeth always wished that she could have power like they did, but she had no idea how close to getting her wish she actually was.
Hearing a knock on the door, Elizabeth went to see whom it was. Her mother opened the door to reveal a woman with shoulder-length hair and a big smile. "Mrs. Peterson?" She asked cheerfully. "Yes, may I help you?" Her mother answered. Elizabeth wondered who this was, she looked oddly familiar. "My name is Tamora, I've come to talk to you about Elizabeth. May I come in?" Her mother admitted her with a questioning look at Elizabeth. Of course! She thought, It's Tamora Pierce! I saw her picture on her website. As thrilled as she was that her favorite author of all time was sitting in her living room, she had to wonder what was going on. Taking a seat next to her mom, she listened to Tamora explain. "I've come to tell you something, but you must promise to keep and open mind about it." Tamora began.
"I can't promise anything without knowing what it is first." Elizabeth's mother replied, a bit harshly. Elizabeth could see her mom wasn't very happy or agreeable at a perfect stranger coming into her house and telling her what to do. "Elizabeth has a special gift." Tamora continued, "She has the gift of magic. Now I know it sounds strange" she hurried on when she saw Mrs. Olson about to tell her off, "But it's true. She has water magic." "Get out of my house, now." Elizabeth's mom countered, dangerously quiet. Meanwhile Elizabeth was bewildered. "Magic?" She whispered "But." She trailed off. Tamora, deciding that she'd have a better chance addressing the girl, answered "Yes, magic. I've come to take you to Winding Circle to train." That was going too far as far as Elizabeth's mom was concerned. She got up and grabbed Tamora by the collar of her shirt, but just as she was about to throw her out, she was knocked into the wall with incredible force. "Elizabeth, please leave us in private to discuss this." Tamora said calmly, eyeing her dazed mother. "Don't kill her." Elizabeth pleaded. Tamora smiled. "Don't worry, she'll be perfectly fine." Elizabeth left and went upstairs to her room. She went over to her bookshelf and grabbed her Circle of Magic and Circle Opens series from the shelf and tossed them on the bed. Then she dropped to her knees and thanked God for this. She might be going to a world where they worship many Gods, as the world in which Winding Circle lay was, but she would always have just Him. After saying her prayers of thanks, Elizabeth decided it would be best to pack a bag, but realized she didn't have one big enough for the long stay she knew she would be having there and wasn't about to go downstairs to ask for one. Instead she turned on her CD player and listened to music, anxiously awaiting the conclusion of whatever was going on downstairs. About an hour or so later Elizabeth's mother entered the room and gave her an odd look before saying "I know I'm the last person you'd expect to say this but, it's true. You.you have.magic." She said the last word with an air of bewilderment. "Tomorrow I have to take you to Winding Circle to train you. An untrained mage is a dangerous thing you know." Tamora said from behind Elizabeth's mom. Elizabeth knew from reading her books that a mage was a person with magical powers. "For now I have to go. Good-night, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon." Elizabeth sat talking to her mother long after Tamora left. Her mother now genuinely believed that she had magic and, though she would miss her very much, that she had to be trained. "Can't you come?" asked Elizabeth. Her mom smiled. "No. I live here. But Tamora promised she'd bring you home to visit often, and on every one of our holidays." Then her mom started to cry and Elizabeth cried too. They held each other and Elizabeth murmured "I'll miss you too mom." The next day, with more hugs, kisses, and tears, Elizabeth left her family for Winding Circle. Well, actually, she left her family for New Hampshire, where Niklaren Goldeye (Tris's teacher and a Great Mage) awaited them. "The way we have to get to Winding Circle is with a Great Spell. A Great Spell is a strong and difficult magical working, so I'll need his help to do it." Tamora explained. After a while, they reached their destination. Tamora and Elizabeth went out to meet a middle-aged man with a salt-and-pepper mustache and hair to match. This was Niklaren. Then he, Tamora, and Elizabeth walked down a forest trail until they got to a clearing. Here, the man took a stick and drew a wide circle around the three of them. Elizabeth knew from reading her books that this was to keep their magic contained inside the circle so that it wouldn't spread out into the world. "Niko, you better prepare her for the spell. I'll start it while you explain it." Tamora told him. As she muttered strange words under her breath, Niklaren, also known as Niko, told Elizabeth what to expect. "First there will be a flash," He began, looking her in the eye, "Then you'll feel like you're being pulled forward for a while before you stop, though I must warn you that you stop quite suddenly and might feel a bit queasy afterwards." With that he closed his eyes and began to mutter under his breath as well. After a minute or so the flash came and as Elizabeth threw up her arm to shield her eyes, she was pulled forward and would have stumbled out of the circle and the spell and ended up who-knows-where, if Niko hadn't caught her. Getting her bearings, she stood again and braced herself for the stop. When it came, instead of standing upright as she was trying to be able to do, she was thrown face-first onto the ground. Getting to her knees she looked behind her to see both Tamora and Niko hiding smiles behind their hands. She blushed, stood up, and almost threw up. Getting her stomach under control, she stumbled over to where Tamora and Niko, who she noted had not been thrown off balance, stood. Looking around she saw that they were standing in the center of the spiral road that gave Winding Circle its name. "We're going to take you to the girl's bunks." Tamora said, grabbing one of Elizabeth's bags. "Actually," Elizabeth ventured, "I was wondering if Sandry, Briar, Tris, and Daja live here, or if you made them up." Giving Elizabeth a strange look at the seemingly random question she answered:
"Of course they're real but Sandry lives with her uncle, Duke Vedris at Duke's Citadel. Briar and Tris live in Discipline, however, and Daja lives with her teacher Frostpine at his forge." "Then, I was wondering," Elizabeth continued nervously, "if I could stay at Discipline. I mean, I have just left another world, and I don't know if I want to be in a whole bunk of people who are so used to this one. I'll feel out or place. Plus, I've kind of wanted to live there with them ever since I read your books." Tamora looked at Niko who shrugged. "Well, I guess that's okay." She said, and headed off in the direction of Discipline cottage. Smiling at her good fortune, Elizabeth followed.
When they got to Discipline, Elizabeth was introduced to two teenagers and two adults. One teenager was a plump girl with hazel eyes and curly hair cropped short. She had wire rimmed glasses on her nose and a polite smile on her face. This was Tris. The other teen was a boy with dark hair and a mischievous smile. He had the golden skin and almond shaped eyes of an easterner, but the green hue of his eyes suggested western blood in one parent. This was Briar, the former thief and present plant mage. The adults wore green habits that showed they had taken their vows to dedicate their lives to the gods and goddesses of the Earth Temple. One woman had almond eyes, like Briar, and dark curly hair that framed an almost cat-like face. This was Sandry's teacher in thread magic, Dedicate Lark. The other woman was short with auburn hair and a non-biased expression that Elizabeth recognized as Dedicate Rosethorn, Briar's teacher in plant magic. Once Elizabeth settled into her room downstairs, she walked with Tamora down to the Water Temple to get a teacher to instruct her in her own field of magic. After introducing themselves and their purpose to a dedicate, Tamora and Elizabeth were told to wait a moment. The dedicate came back accompanied by another person wearing the same blue habit as the first, showing that she, too, was a dedicate of the water temple. She had long brown hair that was tied back in a horsetail and bright blue eyes. "This is Luna Moonshine", the dedicate who asked them to wait said, "She has decided to take Elizabeth on as a student." Finished with the introductions, she walked back into the temple. Luna smiled. "Hi, you must be Elizabeth." Elizabeth nodded and shook the hand that was offered to her. "Well Elizabeth, I have things to do today, so we'll start your lessons tomorrow. I decided to take on another new student today as well. His name is Dan and I told him we'd start lessons tomorrow as well. I'm sure you two will get along fine. I'll meet you here tomorrow at midday, but now I've got to go." With that she left down the spiral road. Are all dedicates this hurried? Elizabeth wondered as she walked back to Discipline.
The next day, Elizabeth went to the appointed meeting place. She saw another boy there who she assumed to be Dan. He had tan skin, and hair that had brown roots wit the rest dyed blonde. Elizabeth thought that was odd because she hadn't seen anyone else around here with dyed hair. The teen was tall and had deep blue eyes. He looked to be about seventeen years old. He's kind of cute, Elizabeth thought. "Are you Dan?" Elizabeth asked. "Yeah. Are you Elizabeth?" was the reply. "Yep. You have a sort of.accent. Where are you from?" asked Elizabeth. "Portugal." He said, "It's in another universe. I was brought here by someone named Tamora" Elizabeth took a moment to process this, though it did explain why his hair was dyed and no one else's was, before telling him that she, too, was from that universe and giving him a short version of her encounter with Ms. Pierce. Dan looked just as surprised to find that someone else here had come from his world as she had been. Just then, however, Luna walked up, cutting off any reply he might have made. "Sorry I'm late. Let's go." Elizabeth again noted Luna's hastiness. Oh well, she thought, I guess that's just the way she is. After a bit of walking the three mages arrived at the beach. "I've decided to teach your first lesson here because you are both water mages and we are lucky enough to be right on the sea. Your first lesson will be meditation. You must learn this before anything else. It's very important because it helps you keep your power in check so that you won't lose control of it and end up creating a disaster." Taking them to a spot close to the water, Luna drew a big circle around them like the one Niko had drawn around himself, Elizabeth, and Tamora. Sitting down in the circle, Luna motioned for the others to do the same. Then she instructed them to look at the waves. "Breathe in as they come up, hold your breath as they crash down, and let it out as they retreat back. Try to clear your mind." The two did as they were told and, after an hour, were told to stop. "Good job for beginners." Luna told them "We'll have to work on it though. I'll see you here again tomorrow. For homework, I want you to read the first chapter of this book." Luna handed them both a copy of a book entitled "Water. Its Power and Uses" and they all went their separate ways. The next week of lessons was exactly the same as the first; an hour of meditation followed by a chapter for homework. Throughout the week Dan and Elizabeth got to know each other better, and were becoming fast friends by the time the week was out. It seemed they had more in common than coming from the same world.
One day, after they'd had their lessons, Dan and Elizabeth were walking together on the beach, carrying on a conversation. "Hey," said Dan, "do you remember reading about how water mages can talk with water? It was in those books Luna gave us." "Sure, I remember." Agreed Elizabeth. It had been in the last chapter they'd read. "Well, I was thinking that maybe we could try it with the sea." He suggested. Elizabeth stopped. "Umm.I guess you forgot, but the book also said that large bodies of water like, let's say the sea, were easily offended and you shouldn't try and speak with them until you've studied how. Now, maybe I forgot, but I don't remember studying that." "You're just chicken. It's only talking. How hard can it be?" He countered, walking toward the water. "They wouldn't have said not to try it if it wasn't dangerous. And yes, I am chicken. In fact I'm more than that, I'm terrified. We should not be trying this! You're going to get yourself killed!" She was screaming now. He could not actually be attempting this; it was crazy! "Fine, be chicken." He said calmly, "But I won't. Wish me luck." He said as he dashed into the water. Elizabeth sat wondering what to do. Should she tell someone? But then he'd get in trouble. But what if he got hurt? But maybe he was right; maybe he'd be fine as long as he was polite. The last thought was wiped from her mind as she saw the sea begin to swell around Dan, and the intense concentration mixed with fear on his face. Leave it to him to get into trouble before she was even two minutes into her debate with herself. What am I going to do?! She thought. She couldn't get him out on her own, she knew from her reading that she wasn't powerful enough or trained enough to do that. Then she got an idea. Recently, Briar had acquired a student of his own, a stone mage named Evvy. Sand was made of stones. If she could get to Briar, he could get Evvy to make the sand lift Dan over the waves. But how to get to Briar? Suddenly she had another idea. Briar was a plant mage. Elizabeth knew that he had the ability to speak with plants, and that plants needed water to live. Maybe she could reach Briar by talking through the water being absorbed by the plants around him. She'd have to try. She reached through the sand with her magic to get to the water underneath. Traveling through it, Elizabeth found a channel of water leading to Rosethorn's garden, which, if she was right, Briar should be weeding right now. Her luck was in, Briar was doing just that. Reaching through a plant by one of Briar's feet, Elizabeth asked the water inside it to have the plant deliver a message to Briar. It agreed. Briar? It's Elizabeth. Elizabeth?! Hope soared in her heart; it had worked! She quickly explained the problem and her idea. Briar agreed to it. Please hurry! Elizabeth urged, I'll try to stall it, but I'm not sure how long I can. The sea seems very intent on hurting him. I hope I'm not too late. Gathering her magic back into herself, Elizabeth looked at Dan. The waves were rising and pushing him harshly, trying to knock him down, while the current tried to pull him under. He seemed to be concentrating hard to keep from being overtaken. Knowing if she didn't do something fast Dan would drown, Elizabeth ran into the water, not sure whether she would ever be coming out again.
Author's note: Please read and review. Do you like it? Too long? HELP ME OUT HERE! Please.
