Okay, sorry 'bout this but I've just read street magic again and I've
realised I've forgotten that Evvy was coming back with them so I'm going to
put it in this chapter. Please review guys!
*************** Chapter 3. An unexpected visitor "Briar! Briar get up now!" a hand shook him roughly awake. Briar sat up in his bed, the dim light shining through the drapes told him it was about three in the morning. He looked up into Rosethorn's ivory skinned face. "What?!" he glared at her. "Get a bed robe (a dressing gown) on and come downstairs now!" Was all she said. With that, she turned and walked quickly out of the room. Briar scrambled to get out of bed, something had to be wrong, he knew. He grabbed his bed robe and followed his teacher downstairs. Sitting at the kitchen table, drinking hot cocoa, her dirty face streaked with tears and her hair in disarray sat."Evvy!" Briar gasped. "What.What are you doing here?" Evvy looked up at him, and promptly burst into tears. Briar noticed that she was holding the roll of cloth with the stones in that he had bought to teach her to read with, hugging it to her chest like it would run away if she didn't. "Pahan Briar!" she sobbed. Rosethorn was standing next to her trying to comfort her. Suddenly she gasped, "Briar quickly, go and get my medical bag from the workroom." Briar disappeared, coming back almost instantaneously with her bag that held all sorts of medicines and ointments.
"Look at this!" Rosethorn whispered to him. He walked over and Rosethorn lifted up Evvy's fringe to reveal a large, swollen, purple and black bruise, about two days old on her forehead. Briar was astonished and furious at the same time, "Who did this to you?" he demanded, while Rosethorn smoothed some healing ointment onto the bruise. Evvy didn't answer, she just sobbed. They found more bruises on her legs and arms. Briar was beside himself with rage and kept pestering Evvy with questions until Rosethorn spun around to face him and yelled, "For Mila's sake Briar! She's tired and upset, leave her be until tomorrow!" Briar fell silent after that. Rosethorn found a nightdress that would fit Evvy and she washed quickly and got changed for bed. They set up a camp bed in Rosethorn's room and Evvy fell asleep the instant her head touched the pillow. Rosethorn led Briar out to the hall where all of Evvy's belongings and about eight cats and four kittens were dumped. The cats were all yelping and didn't stop until Briar let them out of their cat-carry. "She arrived just fifteen minutes ago. She was on a horse and had been travelling for hours, asking directions from the rocks along the way. She didn't want to draw attention to herself by asking people." Rosethorn whispered to him. "You're tired boy, go to bed and we'll sort this out in the morning." Briar obeyed willingly. The last thing he heard before dropping off to sleep was Rosethorn going into Lark's room to let her know about their visitor.
*************** Sandry woke up early and went downstairs and into the kitchen. Nobody was about but suddenly the door to Rosethorn's room opened. She looked up about to greet the older woman but stopped when she realised that she was looking down at a sleepy ten year old girl (okay I know I said thirteen but as I've said I just re-read street magic and found out that they're all ten-elevenish so I'm changing what I said originally) who was rubbing her eyes. Sandry froze, startled. The girl looked up and her expression changed to one of fear. Sandry smiled at the girl uncertainly. The girl looked at her and darted back into Rosethorn's room. "What is it girl?" she heard Rosethorn's voice say angrily from the room. The new girl came out of the room, dragging at Rosethorn's sleeve. "What? Oh that's Sandry, Briar's foster-sister. You woke me up over that?" Rosethorn said. "Um.who's she?" Sandry asked. "She is Evvy, Briar's student, she got here last night. It's a long story and I'm not even sure of most of it but we'll sort it out when everyone gets down here." Rosethorn answered, and after deciding that there was no point in going back to sleep she set about making porridge for their breakfast.
Soon enough Daja, Tris, Briar and Lark joined them. After names and odd looks had been exchanged everyone sat down and listened to Evvy's story. "We were planning on taking her back with us to Winding Circle but on the way home we found a stone-mage with a good reputation who decided he would take Evvy on as a student. She was pleased because she liked the mage who would teach her so she decided to stay with him." Rosethorn explained, "From then on is her story, I'm not sure what happened after we left her." So Evvy explained to them what had happened. "At first he was nice to me and he would reward me when I was working well but then he started telling me to do things that I couldn't do without him teaching it to me and when I told him I couldn't do it he got angry and made me spend days cleaning his mansion from top to bottom. Then it got worse and he started to beat me so I ran away. I packed all my clothes and belongings and of course my cats and I took one of the horses from the stable and I set out in the middle of the night. I went for hours in the wrong direction but then I asked the stones which way to go and they gave me the right directions. Then I found you in this cottage." Evvy finished up. "You won't send me back will you?! No please don't! I couldn't bear it!" she added pleadingly as an afterthought, her eyes wide and her face filled with fear.
"Well, we're certainly not going to send you back to that place Evvy. You'll have to stay here and continue your lessons with Briar. We might be able to find a different mage that will help you here in Winding Circle. We'll have to talk to Niko about this, but in the meantime we'll set up a bed for you here and you can stay until we've sorted this mess out." Lark said soothingly to the frightened girl. After breakfast Evvy automatically started clearing up just to show everyone that they wouldn't regret keeping her and to make sure that none of them changed their minds. The four students helped her and within five minutes the kitchen was sparkling clean. Daja announced that she was going to the forge, Tris curled up on the sofa with a book, Briar sat teaching Evvy to read and Sandry thought about what she was going to make for the fair. She was going to sell spelled cloth and all types of material but she wanted to do something creative also. The nightmare she had last night had given her an idea. She would try and make a web, a web that would catch bad dreams and hold them so people could sleep well at night. She could decorate it too; she would call it a.dream catcher. That was a good name.
She set about working in secret. First she needed some strong thread to weave the web with. She found some in Lark's workshop and started weaving an intricate and delicate web in a round circle. She got a bead and spelled it with good dreams and wove that into the pattern, spelling the thread to keep out bad dreams all the time. When she had done that she decided that she needed a ring to support the thread. She measured the web and made a ring made of leather wrapped around metal (she didn't use wood out of respect for Briar) and then put the web inside the ring. That done she started looking around for things that she could decorate it with. She looked for ages but found nothing and was despairing when a bird suddenly fluttered past the window. Of course! She could put feathers on it. She also knew a way of getting a lot of them without hurting any birds. Tris had adopted three exotic birds a while ago that were hurt. She took care of them until they were fit to fly away but while they were with her they left brightly coloured feathers everywhere. So Tris had kept them as a memory of her little friends.
Now Sandry went out to Tris and asked if she could use them. Tris was very reluctant but in the end she agreed grudgingly. She fetched a box out of her room and gave it to Sandry. When she opened the lid Sandry gasped out loud. She had forgotten just how many feathers they had dropped! There were hundreds of them and in all colours too, ranging from purple to blue or gold to silver. She thanked Tris profusely then ran back to the workshop to attach three different sized feathers to the dream catcher. She spent hours making dream catchers of all colours and sizes. But when she had finished she was extremely happy with her work. She hid her creations in a large chest of her special belongings up in her bedroom. She just needed to get some materials and she would be ready to sell her wares at the market.
*************** The Winding Circle Temple's Council took their seats and waited for Dedicate Moonstream, the head of Winding Circle, to walk in. Everyone was wondering why Dedicate Moonstream had called this emergency meeting. All the head mages were there, Niko, Lark, Rosethorn and Rosethorn's archenemy Dedicate Crane were just a few of the people seated at the large table. Niko was sitting with a grave look on his face; he knew what the problem was. When the head Dedicate walked in everyone stood. She made a motion for them to sit down. When everyone was comfortable and listening Dedicate Moonstream launched straight into the centre of the problem. "As I'm sure you all know there are certain amazingly complex spells that guard Winding Circle and stop it from being attacked or harmed in any way. These spells are in the form of objects and Niko here and I both carry these objects that hold the spells. Of course there are other smaller spells protecting the temples but they can be removed easily by an experienced and professional mage. So we almost completely depend on these objects to protect Winding Circle. These objects that hold the spells have been stolen from me and Niko" the woman looked gravely around the room at the shocked and stunned faces.
"It was virtually impossible to be able to steal these objects, or so we thought. I had three spells that were the work of the air, water and metal temples. Niko had the two others that were the work of the fire and earth temples. Each temple worked for generations to create their personal spell and the spells have been passed down the line through all the Winding Circle head mages." She said and Niko took over, "We did not lose these spells or were careless with them. In fact we had protection spells of the strongest laid on them which tells us that the mage who took them must have been as strong as any one of us. My fire spell took the shape of a flame pendant and the earth spell was a tree pendant. I made both of these invisible and put them on an invisible chain around my neck which I never took off so nobody knew I carried these. Moonstream did the same with hers and it worked for years up until yesterday. Last night my chain was snatched off me while I slept as was Moonstream's. So while these are gone, Winding Circle is defenceless in its walls and barriers and could be completely and utterly destroyed."
****************** Tris and Capta walked down by the earth temple gardens. They were talking and laughing together. Tris learned that he was just a normal mage but wanted to become a dedicate of the air temple when his magic had been trained. He loved reading and was very outgoing too. Funnily enough though, when Tris asked about his family and where he was from, he went silent and didn't say any more. It wasn't as fun after that, Capta was silent and Tris couldn't think of anything to say that would make him laugh. "So where's that big horse of yours being stabled?" she asked to break the awkward silence. "The stables" he replied, looking at her with an expression that said 'are you stupid? That's obvious isn't it?!' Tris was embarrassed and abruptly changed the subject back to magic. As soon as she did that the older boy perked up and acted completely normal again. "I'm being an apprentice to The Honoured Dedicate Moonstream." He told her. "Wow!" Tris was very impressed. This boy must be a powerful mage to have just come into Winding Circle and to go straight into apprenticeship with one of the most powerful mages in that time. But again when she mentioned his power he automatically started brooding over something. She couldn't place her finger on what it was, but there was something strange about this new boy.
********************** How was that chapter guys? I hope it was o.k. So anyway please review! And Happy New Year! I'll put another chapter up soon.
*************** Chapter 3. An unexpected visitor "Briar! Briar get up now!" a hand shook him roughly awake. Briar sat up in his bed, the dim light shining through the drapes told him it was about three in the morning. He looked up into Rosethorn's ivory skinned face. "What?!" he glared at her. "Get a bed robe (a dressing gown) on and come downstairs now!" Was all she said. With that, she turned and walked quickly out of the room. Briar scrambled to get out of bed, something had to be wrong, he knew. He grabbed his bed robe and followed his teacher downstairs. Sitting at the kitchen table, drinking hot cocoa, her dirty face streaked with tears and her hair in disarray sat."Evvy!" Briar gasped. "What.What are you doing here?" Evvy looked up at him, and promptly burst into tears. Briar noticed that she was holding the roll of cloth with the stones in that he had bought to teach her to read with, hugging it to her chest like it would run away if she didn't. "Pahan Briar!" she sobbed. Rosethorn was standing next to her trying to comfort her. Suddenly she gasped, "Briar quickly, go and get my medical bag from the workroom." Briar disappeared, coming back almost instantaneously with her bag that held all sorts of medicines and ointments.
"Look at this!" Rosethorn whispered to him. He walked over and Rosethorn lifted up Evvy's fringe to reveal a large, swollen, purple and black bruise, about two days old on her forehead. Briar was astonished and furious at the same time, "Who did this to you?" he demanded, while Rosethorn smoothed some healing ointment onto the bruise. Evvy didn't answer, she just sobbed. They found more bruises on her legs and arms. Briar was beside himself with rage and kept pestering Evvy with questions until Rosethorn spun around to face him and yelled, "For Mila's sake Briar! She's tired and upset, leave her be until tomorrow!" Briar fell silent after that. Rosethorn found a nightdress that would fit Evvy and she washed quickly and got changed for bed. They set up a camp bed in Rosethorn's room and Evvy fell asleep the instant her head touched the pillow. Rosethorn led Briar out to the hall where all of Evvy's belongings and about eight cats and four kittens were dumped. The cats were all yelping and didn't stop until Briar let them out of their cat-carry. "She arrived just fifteen minutes ago. She was on a horse and had been travelling for hours, asking directions from the rocks along the way. She didn't want to draw attention to herself by asking people." Rosethorn whispered to him. "You're tired boy, go to bed and we'll sort this out in the morning." Briar obeyed willingly. The last thing he heard before dropping off to sleep was Rosethorn going into Lark's room to let her know about their visitor.
*************** Sandry woke up early and went downstairs and into the kitchen. Nobody was about but suddenly the door to Rosethorn's room opened. She looked up about to greet the older woman but stopped when she realised that she was looking down at a sleepy ten year old girl (okay I know I said thirteen but as I've said I just re-read street magic and found out that they're all ten-elevenish so I'm changing what I said originally) who was rubbing her eyes. Sandry froze, startled. The girl looked up and her expression changed to one of fear. Sandry smiled at the girl uncertainly. The girl looked at her and darted back into Rosethorn's room. "What is it girl?" she heard Rosethorn's voice say angrily from the room. The new girl came out of the room, dragging at Rosethorn's sleeve. "What? Oh that's Sandry, Briar's foster-sister. You woke me up over that?" Rosethorn said. "Um.who's she?" Sandry asked. "She is Evvy, Briar's student, she got here last night. It's a long story and I'm not even sure of most of it but we'll sort it out when everyone gets down here." Rosethorn answered, and after deciding that there was no point in going back to sleep she set about making porridge for their breakfast.
Soon enough Daja, Tris, Briar and Lark joined them. After names and odd looks had been exchanged everyone sat down and listened to Evvy's story. "We were planning on taking her back with us to Winding Circle but on the way home we found a stone-mage with a good reputation who decided he would take Evvy on as a student. She was pleased because she liked the mage who would teach her so she decided to stay with him." Rosethorn explained, "From then on is her story, I'm not sure what happened after we left her." So Evvy explained to them what had happened. "At first he was nice to me and he would reward me when I was working well but then he started telling me to do things that I couldn't do without him teaching it to me and when I told him I couldn't do it he got angry and made me spend days cleaning his mansion from top to bottom. Then it got worse and he started to beat me so I ran away. I packed all my clothes and belongings and of course my cats and I took one of the horses from the stable and I set out in the middle of the night. I went for hours in the wrong direction but then I asked the stones which way to go and they gave me the right directions. Then I found you in this cottage." Evvy finished up. "You won't send me back will you?! No please don't! I couldn't bear it!" she added pleadingly as an afterthought, her eyes wide and her face filled with fear.
"Well, we're certainly not going to send you back to that place Evvy. You'll have to stay here and continue your lessons with Briar. We might be able to find a different mage that will help you here in Winding Circle. We'll have to talk to Niko about this, but in the meantime we'll set up a bed for you here and you can stay until we've sorted this mess out." Lark said soothingly to the frightened girl. After breakfast Evvy automatically started clearing up just to show everyone that they wouldn't regret keeping her and to make sure that none of them changed their minds. The four students helped her and within five minutes the kitchen was sparkling clean. Daja announced that she was going to the forge, Tris curled up on the sofa with a book, Briar sat teaching Evvy to read and Sandry thought about what she was going to make for the fair. She was going to sell spelled cloth and all types of material but she wanted to do something creative also. The nightmare she had last night had given her an idea. She would try and make a web, a web that would catch bad dreams and hold them so people could sleep well at night. She could decorate it too; she would call it a.dream catcher. That was a good name.
She set about working in secret. First she needed some strong thread to weave the web with. She found some in Lark's workshop and started weaving an intricate and delicate web in a round circle. She got a bead and spelled it with good dreams and wove that into the pattern, spelling the thread to keep out bad dreams all the time. When she had done that she decided that she needed a ring to support the thread. She measured the web and made a ring made of leather wrapped around metal (she didn't use wood out of respect for Briar) and then put the web inside the ring. That done she started looking around for things that she could decorate it with. She looked for ages but found nothing and was despairing when a bird suddenly fluttered past the window. Of course! She could put feathers on it. She also knew a way of getting a lot of them without hurting any birds. Tris had adopted three exotic birds a while ago that were hurt. She took care of them until they were fit to fly away but while they were with her they left brightly coloured feathers everywhere. So Tris had kept them as a memory of her little friends.
Now Sandry went out to Tris and asked if she could use them. Tris was very reluctant but in the end she agreed grudgingly. She fetched a box out of her room and gave it to Sandry. When she opened the lid Sandry gasped out loud. She had forgotten just how many feathers they had dropped! There were hundreds of them and in all colours too, ranging from purple to blue or gold to silver. She thanked Tris profusely then ran back to the workshop to attach three different sized feathers to the dream catcher. She spent hours making dream catchers of all colours and sizes. But when she had finished she was extremely happy with her work. She hid her creations in a large chest of her special belongings up in her bedroom. She just needed to get some materials and she would be ready to sell her wares at the market.
*************** The Winding Circle Temple's Council took their seats and waited for Dedicate Moonstream, the head of Winding Circle, to walk in. Everyone was wondering why Dedicate Moonstream had called this emergency meeting. All the head mages were there, Niko, Lark, Rosethorn and Rosethorn's archenemy Dedicate Crane were just a few of the people seated at the large table. Niko was sitting with a grave look on his face; he knew what the problem was. When the head Dedicate walked in everyone stood. She made a motion for them to sit down. When everyone was comfortable and listening Dedicate Moonstream launched straight into the centre of the problem. "As I'm sure you all know there are certain amazingly complex spells that guard Winding Circle and stop it from being attacked or harmed in any way. These spells are in the form of objects and Niko here and I both carry these objects that hold the spells. Of course there are other smaller spells protecting the temples but they can be removed easily by an experienced and professional mage. So we almost completely depend on these objects to protect Winding Circle. These objects that hold the spells have been stolen from me and Niko" the woman looked gravely around the room at the shocked and stunned faces.
"It was virtually impossible to be able to steal these objects, or so we thought. I had three spells that were the work of the air, water and metal temples. Niko had the two others that were the work of the fire and earth temples. Each temple worked for generations to create their personal spell and the spells have been passed down the line through all the Winding Circle head mages." She said and Niko took over, "We did not lose these spells or were careless with them. In fact we had protection spells of the strongest laid on them which tells us that the mage who took them must have been as strong as any one of us. My fire spell took the shape of a flame pendant and the earth spell was a tree pendant. I made both of these invisible and put them on an invisible chain around my neck which I never took off so nobody knew I carried these. Moonstream did the same with hers and it worked for years up until yesterday. Last night my chain was snatched off me while I slept as was Moonstream's. So while these are gone, Winding Circle is defenceless in its walls and barriers and could be completely and utterly destroyed."
****************** Tris and Capta walked down by the earth temple gardens. They were talking and laughing together. Tris learned that he was just a normal mage but wanted to become a dedicate of the air temple when his magic had been trained. He loved reading and was very outgoing too. Funnily enough though, when Tris asked about his family and where he was from, he went silent and didn't say any more. It wasn't as fun after that, Capta was silent and Tris couldn't think of anything to say that would make him laugh. "So where's that big horse of yours being stabled?" she asked to break the awkward silence. "The stables" he replied, looking at her with an expression that said 'are you stupid? That's obvious isn't it?!' Tris was embarrassed and abruptly changed the subject back to magic. As soon as she did that the older boy perked up and acted completely normal again. "I'm being an apprentice to The Honoured Dedicate Moonstream." He told her. "Wow!" Tris was very impressed. This boy must be a powerful mage to have just come into Winding Circle and to go straight into apprenticeship with one of the most powerful mages in that time. But again when she mentioned his power he automatically started brooding over something. She couldn't place her finger on what it was, but there was something strange about this new boy.
********************** How was that chapter guys? I hope it was o.k. So anyway please review! And Happy New Year! I'll put another chapter up soon.