Flammie Tales Book 1: A Wizard's Trial
Chapter 1: The Flammie
My anticipation of adventures to come only grows as I turn the page. Before I could even create a fizzle, the basics had to be learned.
"Lesson 1: The magic of color
As the one of the wizards in this world, you will need to know about the elements. Each element has a corresponding color that, if you think about it, makes sense. Let's begin by revealing the six primary elements.
Fire: Fire is the element of beauty and life. Every life is a flame that was kindled by a single spark of life. Providing light and heat, fire is a very good source of necessary resources. Fire is also very powerful and must be handled with care lest it bursts into a mighty and possibly unstoppable blaze that destroys everything in its path.
Red is Fire's color. Lightning is a sub-element of fire.
Water: The contrary element to fire, Water is the element of emotion and change. When a life is born, it is given its own spring of emotions to draw from. Water can be used to douse fires and expedite healing; therefore, water is very useful. The element of water is also a very formidable force when used in offence as a torrent of water can harm even the toughest of enemies.
Blue is Water's color. Ice is a sub-element of water.
Earth: Earth is the element of physical force and will. The physical body of every being that houses the spark of life was once part of earth, and as such, will return to earth when the fire of life leaves the body. Strong and stalwart, earth is best used to protect all who seek protection, yet has offence strong enough to stave away anything foolish enough to take offence to it.
Yellow is Earth's color. Wood is a sub-element of earth.
Air: The contrary to Earth, Air is the element of freedom and wisdom. The element of air provides the living beings the freedom to move and connect with each other. Agile as air is, it can be used to remove binding magic and provide freedom to those who are victim, but it can also be used for a calming and healing effect. Vicious storms such as tornadoes and hurricanes exemplify the power hidden behind the element of air.
Green is Air's color.
Light: Light is the element of purity and good. The element of light is created when any being does something to exemplify the light they are born with. Light can easily be used to heal and empower anyone who is willing to receive its power, and provide harmful effects to beings of darkness. While light does not offer much offense, it has a very good synergy with other people and elements.
White is Light's color.
Shadow: Shadow is the element of corruption and evil. Shadow is most commonly seen when a being does something to diminish the light within them and let the shadow grow. There are, however a few exceptions. A wizard must be extremely cautious with the shadow spells he learns lest the corruptive powers of the very spells he's casting tears his soul asunder. Shadow spells are all about attacking, and as such, the shadow element contains the spells that are best in pure power, but power corrupts.
Black is Shadow's color.
Keep in mind that there are more sub elements, but you'll learn about those later.
Along with colors being assigned to different elements, every person has an aura of a certain color. The color of one's aura designates an element that that person is able to master. Let's find out your element by finding out the color of your aura!
You should feel slightly different since opening this book. You should feel the energy of your aura around you. To find out what color that aura is, you must take control of it and channel it through the crystal on your staff. While no magic will be cast right now, the crystal will still turn the color of your aura.
Find your aura's color and move on the next page."
I thought of how complicated the very first lesson seemed to be. The book wanted me to find my aura and its color. It was right. I did begin to sense energy flowing around and through me, but it was hard to actually focus on.
I tried grab at the energy I was feeling, but it just seemed like it was everywhere and no matter what I did, I couldn't get a hold of it. Then it occurred to me. Aura isn't something to grab onto and manipulate that way. My aura is a part of me. This seemingly simple revelation made the energy flowing around me much easier to feel and control. With great care, I filled my staff with my energy, and the crystal began to glow.
Red. The crystal is glowing red so, that must be the color of my aura. I looked back at the book, but the lighting seemed to change. Green? So, my aura is green? No, blue. Purple? Yellow? White? It seemed my aura wasn't a single color, but slowly transitioning through all six colors of the basic elements.
"Lesson 2: Your aura.
Your aura contains all 6 colors. That is a very rare trait. You are a very special boy, and you should be proud. You have the very unique element called aether. Aether is the combination of all the elements and signifies that you are able to master any element of your choosing. Given enough time and practice, you could even master them all. You will be able to defeat even the strongest foe.
Like all things, this gift also comes with a curse. You, being of the element aether, are destined to battle with the strongest of evils. Your road will not be an easy one, and you will face many hardships.
When you find yourself able to accept this great and noble destiny, go to the next lesson on the next page."
Aether? I had heard of such a substance in Greek mythology. Apparently, the stars and the heavens are made of aether. Why was I chosen to battle with the biggest and baddest guys? Was there something the book was not telling me? Maybe I should sleep this one off and go to the next lesson tomorrow.
On my way to bed, I got a call from my boss. Due to a technicality and him having a "premonition" he had let me go. What he said really wierded me out. He had wished me luck with my training and destiny. He also mentioned that if I survived my "big baddie" (as he put it) he would hire me back in a heartbeat. Admittedly, I was upset about loosing my job all of a sudden. It had only been my second job, and I had only been working there for a few months, but I enjoyed the work and was sad to see it go. It did, however, make me lose my last bit of resistance to becoming a wizard. I no longer had anything to lose, but everything to gain.
That night in the Dream World, I found myself staring into the eyes of a very cute creature with creamy yellow fur. It was about as big as a bear, but that's all I could tell. The beast spoke to me in my head as if it had been telepathic all its life. Her "voice" was so soothing and gentle. I knew it was a "she" because the sound of its voice as well.
"Please, help me! You have the aura of aether correct? Please you must make me your familiar. If you don't the world you know now may be doomed. Please save me from this eternal void you see me floating in. Please."
The whole time talking to her, I saw ... no ... sensed a peculiar thing. It wasn't an aura, but more like a color being placed directly in my head. I saw nothing but green, and from that green radiated an extreme fear. That moment she started to fade away. I was slowly waking up and making my trip back to reality. The second to last thing I heard the creature say was "Flammie".
"Flammie?" I questioned as I continued to drift away. "No! Wait! What is a flammie! What did you mean when you said I had to make you my familiar? What did you mean when you said my world would end as I know it? Please, don't leave me with so many questions!"
The only other thing the creature said was "Seryn".
I awoke with a cold sweat. Was that a dream, or was a being long since passed away trying to tell me something? Flammie ... Seryn ... Wait! I get it, she must have been a "flammie" named Seryn. I couldn't help but trust Seryn. She had sounded so lonely and fearful. I wanted to help her.
I rushed downstairs to where I had left the book. As I turned to lesson 3, I already seemed to know what the subject it would be, and sure enough! The book read:
"Lesson 3: An aether aura and it's familiar
So, you are finally ready to accept you destiny. You being an aether wizard means you have the greatest task of any other wizard. You are charged with the protection of the very world you stand on. To give you the help you will undoubtedly need, you will be able to choose a "familiar."
A familiar is a creature you summon to assist you in any way it can. After choosing which creature to summon, you can choose to enslave it with a spell or charm, or in rare cases this isn't necessary because the creature WANTS to either save the world, or simply be with you.
After you save the world, you can choose to either set the familiar free, or keep it as a pet. A free familiar, although of free will, may be so enthralled with their master that even when freed, they will stick by his or her side always. Others, however, are so angry about their forced services that they will eventually break free of any spell or charm you may have cast on them to enslave them in the first place and promptly run away.
Before continuing, please think about and choose a creature to be summoned, and then move to the next page."
Think about my creature? There was no need for that after what I had seen. My choice was clear. I was going to choose Seryn the Flammie. Without hesitation, I turned the page of the book. This was where the pages had started to be blank before, but this page clearly had words on it.
"Lesson 3 continued: You're familiar
What? You want Seryn the Flammie? She has been DEAD for over 200 years! Why not just pick an animal that's alive now, or at least not be so specific on which animal."
The book was questioning me? "No! I must have Seryn! She begged me to have her in my dreams last night, and I will settle for no less." After speaking aloud my thoughts, I was amazed to find that the book was writing in itself!
"Alright kid. You clearly want Seryn, so Seryn you shall have. But just to warn you, this particular creature has her own battle to fight, and you will be expected to help her with that along with your regular duties." The book suddenly started rising about an inch off my table and glowing. Before I knew it, a large portal opened in my living room. Slowly but surely, I saw Seryn coming out of the hole. I gasped in amazement when I realized that the book not only summoned her for me, but it brought her back from the dead. What else could this book do?
I was finally able to see the full extent of what Seryn looked like. She was about 12 feet from head to tail. She was very bear-like in size and shape, and she had some very messy looking goldenrod colored hair. Her muzzle was curved and came to a beak-like tip at the end.
Her eyes were very cute and innocent looking and were colored a deep baby blue color. Her front paws had three digits and a fourth on the side that served as an opposable thumb. At the end of every digit was a dark brown talon, and her pads were a bright pink color. The hind paws of the flammie were almost exactly same except they were slightly wider and had only three "toes". On both sides of her maw as a single visible tooth. The ears of the creature were long and almost deer-like and were tipped with light blue-green fur. Finally, she had not two but four large and very feathery wings on her back. These wings were tipped with the same blue-green color that tipped her ears. I also noticed that from her chest all the way down to the tip of her tail was tough, leathery scale-like skin. Don't get me wrong, the "scales" only covered the part of her tail toward the ground. The other part was fur like the rest of her body.
The general look of this flammie can be described simply as 'cute.' Beautiful or gorgeous didn't quite fit as her beauty was more elegant and hidden than one would imagine those words.
By this time, the book had returned to normal and now had some new writing.
"There you go Skyler. Meet Seryn the Flammie. She is in a coma right now and I will wake her as soon as you answer this important question. Do you want a spell or charm cast on her to bind her will to yours?"
"Bind her will to mine? Of course not! As I said before she begged for me to be her master in the Dream world last night. I don't think that would be necessary here."
"As you wish. She will wake up momentarily. I'll just leave and let you two get to know each other a little better. Don't worry; I'll be back in about 2 days to continue with your training. You're going to need it." As I finished reading the last sentence of that lesson, the book disappeared in a brief flash of light. Not even a minute after, I heard Seryn awakening and starting to come to her senses.
Before anything else, when she awoke, she took great joy in her surroundings. She could see my living room, feel my carpet on her pads, hear distant cars race by, but most importantly of all, she had hope once again. As our eyes locked in place, I felt an overwhelming amount of blue flood my mind. But that's not all. With every speck of blue, there was a great feeling of joy.
"Skyler? Skyler! You trusted me! Oh, I'm so happy to be living again after these 200 long years!" I was surprised to find out that Seryn could speak like a normal human. "I'm sorry I had to leave you with so many questions last night, but you were my, the world's, last hope. And I see you also chose to not bind me. Thank you!"
"I somehow knew that you wouldn't try to escape. That and binding the will of any creature seems so ... cruel. Wow Seryn. You look so beautiful and cute!" I know that may seem I was hitting on her, but that was not the case. I was complimenting her. "Say, can you answer a few questions for me?"
"I would be overjoyed to. You have already brought life back to this lifeless body, so I'll return the favor any way I can. And thank you for the compliment. I suppose you want to know the answer to those questions you asked as you woke up. First off, I am a flammie. I am one of a very unique kind of dragon. You may not realize it, but dragons still exist in this world. Why, since I've been awakened, I've already sensed 12.
I know you're wondering what to feed me. Don't worry about that. The body of a flammie is specially made with vein-like structures just under our skin specifically to absorb moonlight. We then convert this moonlight into pure energy. This is also good 'cause you'll never see me ... y'know ... that."
I was simply amazed. These flammies were clearly magical creatures that got truly free energy. "Obviously I know what you meant when you said familiar now. Your fur looks so stunning. Would you mind if I gave it a stroke?"
"Certainly not. In fact, I'd greatly enjoy being touched again after so long. While you're at it, could you also scratch just behind my ear?"
Though that last bit confused me a little, I gently stroked Seryn's arm. Her fur was softer than anything I had ever felt before. It was softer even than the belly fur of the cat I used to own, and that was just her arm. Shortly after I scratched behind her ear like she had requested, and I noticed something I hadn't before. On Seryn's fur was an extremely subtle aroma of vanilla. It was then that I realized that not only was this creature so picturesque and beautiful that nothing on this earth even compared, but also that she even smelled nice.
"You think I'm beautiful now, just wait 'till tonight when I'm able to finally absorb moonlight for the first time in 200 years!"
(Wait a minute! Did she just ... nah! She may be able to talk but she couldn't do that.)
"Before night comes, I have just one more question to ask. In my dream, you said that my world as I knew it would cease to exist if I didn't choose you. What did you mean by that?"
At the mere thought of what she had to tell me, Seryn's ears drooped.
END OF CHAPTER 1!
Author's Ending Notes: Re-edited once again. This time I actually took the time to go through and re-read the entire chapter. I am going to do this to all the chapters through 6, and release the updated versions at the same time as chapters 7 and 8 to attempt to make up for my laziness in updating. That said, on to chapter 2!
Look out for:
Chapter 2: The History
