A SECRET STARTED
" I woke up at my Teacher's training facility." Aariah spooned more soup. "He was pacing back and forth. When he saw that I had awakened, it only made him pace harder. After several minutes he told me what was troubling him. 'I don't know what to do with you. I'm disappointed in you showing you magic outside of this room for you know very well that people would recognize my teaching and would find out that I was training a woman!' He had said and paced back and forth harder before stopping to look into my eyes, 'But but you caught the AIR! None of my other students have accomplished anything NEAR enough to that! Even my teaching now would be pointless, for you have advanced too far for me to add to your skill.' He had paused and had gone back to his pacing." Aariah had finished her soup, but Siefoth was too engaged into her story to take it back to the kitchen. "It wasn't too long before he told me to head north, here, to the mountains. He said that if I had caught the air then I must catch all four elements. I had asked why. I asked why I needed all four and not just keep the one. He had told me that other people of power would try to defeat me and take my air from me. 'For example,' he had said, 'if someone were to own Fire, the Air would only feed the Fire and you would be destroyed very easily.' And so I got the idea. 'You have relatives in the mountains, do you not?' He had asked me. Of course I told him of you, and so he sent me here, telling me much about how to capture the elements, why it had worked before and that here, in the mountains, is where I would find Water, 'Your next challenge,' he had said."
"Well," Amirie said, obviously overloaded with the story. "Where ah where do you intend to find Water up here? Is it in the snow? In a stream perhaps? Did he tell you where to look?"
"Not exactly, Auntie Amirie, but he told me of a chant that may help tell me which direction the water element is from me."
"How come it had to be in the mountains?" Siefoth asked, "I'm reasonably sure you can find water in other areas of land." He picked up the now empty bowl.
"Well, he had said, that there was actually an almost living entity of each element. Well, rather two living entities for each element. An Air entity apparently was passing through and wished to make mischief not believing that I was powerful enough to tame it. But apparently, I was a strong match, It wore itself out trying to get through my daily protection spells that I had been using before it was able to start thrashing about me and lifting me above the earth. I believe this weakened it, causing the tables to be turned in my favor."
Siefoth finally nodded his understanding, he wasn't the one keen on magic anyway, and Amirie continued to ask questions as he walked away, "So, how did he know that one of the water entities would be here?" She leaned forward onto the table and hushed her voice.
"I believe he had heard from a friend that had been crossing through these mountains, that he had seen something in the streams around and that it was in fact not the first time he had seen it during his travels through the mountains. His friend is that of a mage, and so he understands that when his friend sees something, then there is in fact something there."
"Well then. I guess you must be just itching to try out that locating spell then, aren't you?" Amirie sat up and tapped her palms on the table. "What would you like to prepare with?"
"Well, that room you gave me should do fine I shall take my cloak plus other items that I brought with me and I will need some peace about the room. Please try to keep people away from it, would you?" Aariah looked hopefully at her aunt.
"Of course, dear. I'll be happy to help you." Amirie stood and accompanied her niece to her room.
It didn't take long for Aariah to set up what she needed in her room. Her cloak was upon her shoulders, her book -- which had been hidden within the folds of her heavy traveling garments -- was now in front of her, pendant in hand, and the candle from the desk was now on the floor. "Thank you Auntie Amirie, this should be all I need," Her aunt nodded to her and exited. Aariah opened her book to the appropriate page and quietly studied what she was about to do.
After several minutes she set the book down on the desk and sat on the floor with the candle in front of her. She began. "I call upon my own might, to release the staff of my right!" Her dagger pendant stretched out into a staff once again. She held it upright a few inches above the candle and said, "Either East, West, South or North," She was being slow and methodical, "I am in search of something to me it's worth. I am in search of Water" She closed her eyes and let go of the staff. Just like she expected, and as the book had said, her staff hovered over the candle and did not fall. The book had predicted that the candle's flame and the staff would both lean in the direction of the nearest entity before she would open her eyes. She hesitated only slightly, believing that the more time she gave it, the more accurate it would be. Aariah slowly opened her eyes and gasped. The staff and candle flame were still upright! She looked wide-eyed at what was before her, since the spell should have worked. She got onto her hands and knees and looked closer at the flame. It didn't even twitch. She blew on it, and to her amazement it stood still. She got up and went to her book. Everything she had done was correct. She followed the book exactly, so it should have worked. Turning back to the staff and candle, she decided to break the spell. She walked up to the staff and took hold of it. "I am done. Thank you for your help." At that she was able to take the staff away and the candle began to twitch once again. After several minutes of frustratingly trying to figure out what she did wrong, she sighed and sat down once again. "One more try. I will give this one more try."
