As she stood, Lianne's eyes darted from her attendees, their friends, their teacher and finally coming to rest on their captives. Bound and gagged by their own garments and jewellery, huge thorns threatened them if they so much as moved an inch. They were staying very still.
Still trembling, she tried to take in the last few minutes' events. Niklaren Goldeye walked over to her, and asked, "Why were they threatening you? What did you do to cross them?"
Unable to hold his sharp eyes, she glanced down and around her for support. The ground had never seemed so interesting. Feeling the hard rock under her shoes, she kicked off her boots, and let the cool mortar and minerals calm her mind. Looking up, she found five sets of startled eyes on her. "What?" She asked, irritated. Hadn't they ever seen someone take off their shoes before?
As her irritation grew, the red head- Trisana Chandler, the weather witch- looked increasingly uncomfortable. Finally, with a cry, she looked away, took off her specs and rubbed her eyes fiercely.
As suddenly as it had come, her irritation disappeared. "Are you alright?" She asked, concerned.
"Yeah, you were just shining so bright!" Tris said, rubbing the residue silver from her eyes. She hated when that happened.
"What do you mean 'shining so bright'? What happened to you?" Lianne asked. Weird things happened around these four.
Sandry gaped at her. When she had found her voice again, she used it. "You didn't feel it?"
"Feel what?" Lianne was getting even more confused, if that were even possible.
"The earth tremor! You can't tell me that you didn't feel that!" Briar exclaimed.
"Earth tremor? What are you people talking about?" She asked dubiously. She was beginning to think these mages were a little on the insane side.
Before anyone could add anything else, Niko stepped in. "I think she caused it." He said quietly, turning to her. "As a matter a fact, I'm certain. Did you know you're a mage?"
"M-m-m-a," The words stuck in her throat. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, wondering if this was all some weird dream, and if she'd wake up soon, she tried again. "A mage? I can't be a mage."
Briar looked to Sandry, Tris and Daja. Typical denial, his eyes said. They all nodded in agreement. It was Sandry who spoke up. "Why can't you be a mage?" That question was sure to put a dent in her denial.
Looking as confused as she had before, she tried to think of an answer, and finally whispered, "Because I'm not important enough."
Glancing sharply at Niko, she asked another question. "And what makes an important mage?"
Answering with more confidence, but unable to meet her eyes, Lianne said, "Well, you're a noble, you were a merchant," She said pointing to Sandry and Tris respectively. Turning to Daja and Briar, she continued. "You're a trader-" She was cut off by Daja.
"Was." She said quietly. "I am no longer a true trader."
Looking at her for another second, she finished, "And you were an expert thief. I'm just an average girl, living in an average village." She looked down in shame.
Deciding that such prestigious people didn't want to spend time with a nobody like her, she started walking away, head bowed, and picked up the basket she had used to carry the food she got from the market home. The food itself was spoiled, but the basket could be reused. Sighing, she started walking along the path, towards her home. Being reminded of her mediocrity was something she could leave to her neighbors.
Tossing a baffled look at Niko as she walked after the girl, Sandry saw him moving to intercept her. "Let her go, but throw a line out. She needs time to get over the shock."
"But-" A hand cut her off.
"No buts. This is why I wanted to come for this ride today, and why I wanted to come for this ride alone. I saw this series of events a few days ago, and decided I must stop it. I knew the mere mention of your names frightens many, and I didn't want to take the chance." Rounding on Tris, he added, "But somebody insisted on coming along."
"Well so-rry, but if you'd just told me..." She trailed off at the look in his eyes. She knew when to stop. Most of the time.
Niko sighed, and scrubbed his face with his hands. Turning to Sandry, he asked, "Have you got a line on her?"
Nodding in confirmation, she turned to Briar. "Do you have anything in your mage's kit for those cuts she got? From the way she spoke about herself, her family probably isn't very wealthy, and they may not have the proper healing creams. Maybe yarrow root and comfrey cream?"
Daja gently shoved Briar. "Yeah, it's the least you can do, considering you're the one who caused most of the injuries."
Briar scowled fiercely, looking around for support, finding only the plants that bound the gang members. He was sorry that he wasn't able to retract the thorns in time, but at least she hadn't plummeted to her doom. Looking up at them, he noticed that they were only playing with him. Grinning broadly, Daja shoved him and said, "Come on, thief boy, we'll follow her and you can offer your apologies in person."
Grumbling about never being able to understand girls, he set off to retrieve his horse.
Treading carefully so as to not be heard, Briar followed the young girl who he and his foster sisters had saved, with some help from Niko, along the path that led to a lone house on a hill. 'For someone who doesn't have much money, they sure live in a nice house,' Briar thought. It had marble pillars with runes for protection and good health, among others, carved into a swirling pattern. It would have cost a fortune. Also, it was trimmed with brass, his sense of Daja told him.
Walking quietly, he set off around the back. There was a trellis with ivy vines hanging from a second floor window, and he raised a hand in greeting. Unfortunately, this particular plant wasn't too well cared for, and it grabbed him, begging for salvation through its binding grip. Sending waves of reassurance to the neglected plant, he wondered if the family even knew how to look after ivy. It was a very demanding plant.
About a meter to the front door, the sounds of Briar's quiet footfalls were overcome with the loud barking of a large dog. Briar gulped. This dog was even bigger than Little Bear, who had, by now, gotten quite big. Backing up, Briar cursed when he heard the voice.
"Roger, quiet down." The girl. The one who thought you had to be 'important' to be a mage. How wrong she was. The voice came again. "Roger! What's wrong? If it's just another silly raccoon again..."
An older, stronger voice interrupted. "No Lianne, you stay here, rest. I'll go see what's wrong with that mutt."
Lianne's voice floated to his ears again. "Yes father."
Wondering if he had time to hide in the large tree some twenty meters away, he noticed the door opening. Taking a breath, he stepped forward. There was no time to run, so he'd have to come out and do the mage like thing. He'd have to confront his fears.
"Sir, I'm-" He started, but was cut off by the metal pole the large, gruff man swung at him. Dodging to the left, he called for the ivy plant to grab the pole. He would need this man unarmed to speak to him.
Looking up in outrage, the man jumped for the pole. In any other situation, it might have been comical; seeing a tall man repeatedly jumping for a weapon that a plant had taken off him. But Briar held his laughter, he couldn't afford to upset the tall man.
Trying again, he said louder, forcing more authority into his voice. "Sir, I am Briar Moss, a student of plant magic under Dedicate Rosethorn. I believe we need to talk."
Wide eyed, the man stopped jumping. "Briar Moss? The Briar Moss?"
Face turning bright red, he shifted from foot to foot. 'The others should be arriving any minute now,' he thought. He just hoped they'd come before he was embarrassed to death.
"Uh..." Was all he could say before the trotting of horseshoes interrupted him. Sighing in relief, he turned to his friends. "Sandry, Tris, Daja, Niko, this is... uh..."
"Callum. It's an honor to meet with such prestigious mages."
Muttering, Briar said, "Yeah, such an honor you tried to kill me."
Looking abashed, the man looked at the clear blue sky, the grassy green ground, the marble pillars, anywhere but the faces of the mages before him. "Yeah, well about that... I thought you were another gang member, come to finish off what they'd started with my daughter. You should see her, she's covered in all sorts of cuts and bruises."
A pang of guilt forced Briar to speak up, "Yeah, they were my fault. I hadn't had time to retract the thorns from a plant when I had them grow to stop her from backing off a cliff. That's part of the reason we're here. I have some comfrey cream and yarrow root you can use."
All through his speech, Briar had been watching the old man- Callum- 's face. He'd ranged from being angry, to grateful in a moment, with a whole rainbow of emotions in between. Now he spoke. "Thank you. The root and cream will come in handy. Why don't you come inside? We have some tea on the boil, if you'd like some."
Nodding his appreciation, Niko took the lead. "Thanks. We appreciate it." As he walked inside, the others moved to follow him.