Chapter 13: Insanity or bravery?
Sam was sitting in the park, legs crossed, eyes closed. Master Numair had told her that this would be necessary to learn how to control her Gift. She could have done it in her room, but she felt much more comfortable with nature around her.
'It's strange. When I'm not pressed to use these spells, my Gift doesn't frighten me anymore. It is as if there would be another way I could go to control the Gift. I can't even explain it to myself. How could I explain it to Master Numair, without telling him everything.'
Sam sighed and remembered. Here it had been where she attacked Nat. That night she had thought he could be sent by her enemies. But when she had looked in his eyes, she suddenly knew that he would never harm her. And she had told him almost everything. And he was her friend now, although he knew that she ... .
Sam shook her head. 'No! Not now. Don't think about it. You were sad after you told him your story. If you remember too often you only become melancholic.' She got up. 'Let's go to the training yards. I wonder what Cori is actually doing.'
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When Sam arrived at the training yards she came just in time to see Cori in a wrestling match with Lachran. The whole training group was there, watching. Sam smiled. 'She's good. And every day she becomes better.'
In the corner of her eye she saw a black shadow running towards the training yard. She turned her head.
'Oh gods! What a huge dog!' She was extremely worried. Those dogs were bred for fights. If they weren't trained properly they became very dangerous. And even more dangerous they were when the were trained to kill.
Sam's eyes became huge. 'It's running to Cori and the others!' She turned around and ran towards the group. "Cori! Lachran! Nat! The dog! It's dangerous! Run away!" She looked back and knew that nobody was able to run away quicker than the dog. It would kill at least one of them. She turned again, now running towards the dog, which had nearly arrived at the pages.
Sam jumped on his back, winding her arms around his enormous neck and the drive of her jump let both fall down. Now she lay on her back, the dog over her, it's legs in the air. It tried to turn back on its feet to attack Sam.
Sam didn't really want to hurt the dog. She only wanted to hold him until help came. She heard Cori's fearful voice crying for help. The pages didn't know what to do. They had no weapons with them, and the dog was enormous.
Sam was having difficulties breathing under the weight of the dog. Besides she didn't know how long she would have the strength to hold this dog, which was fighting hard to get free. She tried to calm down the animal by talking softly to him. This came automatically to her mind. And to her own surprise the dog stopped rolling on her. She didn't trust it enough to let him free, but she continued talking, waiting for help.
Then she recognised a woman next to her. She had long brown hair and blue- grey eyes. The woman started to talk to the animal. Then she told Sam to let him free. After some hesitation Sam did as she was told. The dog got on his feet, looked around wagging his short tail. Everybody sighed with relief.
Sam gasped hard. She felt very beaten up. 'I will never ever do this again. I must be the most stupid ...'
Her thoughts were interrupted by the woman. "It was very brave of you to attack a dog of this size. It could have ended badly for you."
"It was my only chance. I could have tried to kill him. I know where to hit him at his vertebral column to kill him instantly. But I didn't know if I would have the strength while running. And I hoped help would come soon enough that we could calm him down without killing him." Sam, who wasexhausted, looked up at the woman. "You are the Wildmage, aren't you."
She woman smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'm Daine Sarrasri. You were lucky I was alarmed by some bird flying around. But you had him quite under control when I arrived."
"I wouldn't term it control." She got up slowly, groaning. "Ok. I think that's it for today. I'm going to bed."
She looked at the Wildmage. "Do you care about the dog? I hope it's not necessary to kill him for attacking people. Maybe he can be trained not to do it again."
Daine nodded. "I will try to help him." She turned round calling the dog. "I will see you later. First I have to find a nice lodging for our friend. Bye."
Sam watched her leave, the dog next to her looking guilty. Suddenly she felt someone embracing her. "Cori!"
"I thought you would die! Why do you have to act so stupidly." Cori cried out, tears in her eyes.
"Because I thought you would die if I didn't."
Cori cried silently. Sam put her arms around her to calm her down. "I'm fine. Everything is Ok."
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Sam's fight with the dog was the topic of the day. Some people thought she was insane, other termed her brave. Everyone tried to talk to her to elicit more details about that experience. As soon as she could, Sam hid in her room, ignoring the knocks on her door. 'I don't know what's worse. Fighting a giant dog or living with the consequences of surviving it.'
Only a few people weren't happy that it didn't end with a dead page. "Again, one of your enormous plans fail. Next time you make a proposal, we will ignore it, Ruben."
"How should I know how insane this girl is, attacking a fighting dog."
Damian cleared his throat. "I must confess that I'm impressed. I don't know if I'd have the courage acting like that."
"It's not courage, it's insanity."
"It is courage. Well, I think it could become a challenge fighting this girl." He started to grin. 'I will enjoy it.'
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Numair Salmalin was working on a special book when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in."
Daine entered the room, grinning at him. "I'm surprised that you heard me. Is this the new book you got yesterday?" She kissed him loving.
"Yes it is. It concerns people who aren't able to control their Gift. But no case like Sam's is mentioned."
"I met her today. She saved her friends from a fighting dog."
Numair looked worried. "Has anything happened to her?"
"No, she was able to hold the dog and calm him a bit until I arrived. Numair, she has Wild Magic. Why didn't you tell me?"
Numair jumped up. "What? Are you sure. I didn't see it in her. I only saw her Gift, no Wild Magic."
"It's interwoven with her Gift. It's not easy to see because the Gift hides it a bit. But I'm sure. She talked to the dog and he understood her."
"That makes everything clearer. Maybe her Gift and the Wild Magic are reacting differently with the different methods she's using. When she uses a spell her Gift reacts properly but the Wild Magic reacts explosively. It will be interesting to search for a method that ..."
Daine rolled her eyes. "Before you drift away listen, please. The dog was trained and commanded to attack the pages. It's owner fled already."
Numair's eyes widened with shock. "What! Someone wanted to kill the pages?"
"Only the blond ones. He was trained to attack people with blond short hair, who wear boy's clothes and who have the size of first- year pages."
"Oh gods! Who ... ?"
"I don't know. I didn't even find the trainer of the dog."
"We will have to tell the king."
"That's true."
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What do you think? I little bit too exaggerated? Much too exaggerated? Complete waste of time? Well I hope you liked it.