Thanx for the great reviews! And PhyscoLioness, have you gone on vacation or something…? Oh well.
On top of cloud 9: You hate them? Well, I love them! Well, actually, only if I'm the one writing them. Lol. And thanx for the tip! Keep reviewing!
Lady of Queenscove: Thank you my newly new reviewer. Yes, actually, I did mean Cami there. Oops. Plz update your own story soon; its awesome!
Rattail: Lol, I think she's weird too, but I needed to make her that way…but wutevah. Thanx for reviewing!
Thanx you guyzzzz…
Cami slowly shut the diary with a snap, letting the news sink in. She was a powerful mage, an Elemental. She was also the true ruler of Scanra, and her true mother wanted her to kill Maggur and get the entire country under her rule.
Why couldn't I have just been regular common-born Cami? Why? She wondered. Her head ached, and she was tired. If only I was…she thought.
Suddenly the door slammed open and a voice said, "Cami! I-"
She didn't hear the rest. She shrieked and jumped about fifty feet in the air, and landed on her bed with a thump. "God forsake you howdisci dkhflkd-" she started to babble incoherently. Shut up and calm down! She told herself sternly, and ended her speech with, "Didn't anybody ever teach you how to knock? If you did, the result would have been the same, but at least the door would be closed." She glared up sullenly into Tobe's startled face.
Tobe stared at Cami, and began to laugh long and hard. He laughed far after tears came to his eyes, and Cami handed him a handkerchief to blot them away.
"It's not funny," said Cami, miffed. "I was startled, that's all. It's not every day someone barges into your room while you're thinking and yells into your ear."
"Sorry," Tobe wiped his eyes again. "But the look on your face…" The memory was obviously too much for him, and he started to laugh again, and laughed until he started to hiccup. "Ok, now I'm done."
"You startled me, I jumped and babbled, end of story." She gazed angrily into his eyes. "Now what did you want?"
Tobe hung his head, the picture of a distressed male. "I came to apologize. I'm sorry for the way I acted today. Is there any way I could make it up to you?"
Cami eyed him critically. He seems sincere enough, she thought. "Apology accepted, I guess. As for the making it up to me…"
She looked at Tobe's suddenly fearful face. "I've heard that you're good with horses. Would you…um, would you teach me how to ride one?" Cami gazed hopefully at him; she didn't want to repeat the experience of arriving here.
"Sure," exclaimed Tobe, looking relieved. "How about tomorrow at about eight o'clock in the morning? I'll meet you at the stables. A sparrow will show you the way."
"So soon?" asked Cami.
"Why not? Any day is good for me." Tobe said, happy that she wasn't going to ask for something horrible.
Cami shrugged. "Tomorrow's fine with me."
"Okay. See you then!" Tobe left her room.
Cami blew out her candle and snuggled under the covers. Then she remembered the diary. Between getting ready for bed and talking to Tobe, she almost forgot about it.
She relit the candle and opened the diary to the very last page. A delicate silver chain lay there, and attached to it, a beautiful pendant. It was a well-sized oval, and had symbols in each quarter of it. A fire symbol in a blazing orange stone that Cami couldn't name, a water symbol in aquamarine, an earth symbol in jade, and an air symbol in diamond.
Cami reverently lifted it out of the book and clasped it around her neck. She fell asleep smiling.
…
Cami sat up and stretched. She looked out the window and groaned. Dawn, she thought. Why do I have to wake early up every morning?
She pushed back the sheets and stood up. She did a couple of exercises to loosen up her muscles, and stuck her head out of the window again, and looked down. She saw Kel with a queer weapon in her hand do some combat dances on the ground in front of the stables. Cami shrugged and decided to join her, for her lesson with Tobe wasn't for another few hours.
She closed her door behind her quietly, trying not to make a sound. Padding down the hall in her shirt and breeches, she almost walked straight into a bleary-eyed noble.
Cami squeaked, then pressed her body flat against the wall. The nobleman looked up and down the hall, trying to find the source of the noise. After a few more moments of silence, the man walked off and disappeared around a corner. Once the sound of his receding footsteps was gone, Cami started off again, this time quietly jogging.
She reached the doors to the outside and eased them open. She was quite pleased with herself for finding her way without a sparrow guide.
Cami tapped Kel on the shoulder. The woman whirled around, nearly decapitating Cami with the weapon. Luckily, Cami ducked just in time. "Cami," Kel gasped. "Don't you ever do that again. I almost killed you." Her clothes were streaked with sweat and her forehead beaded with it as they sat down.
"What was that, anyway?" asked Cami, intrigued.
"It's a glaive," At Cami's confused look, Kel added, "It's a weapon favored by the Yamanis."
"Oh," Cami said. "Um, I was wondering if you'd teach me how to use some weapons. I already am pretty good with daggers, and I'm a pretty good archer, but I'd like to learn swordsmanship."
"Is that so?" Kel said. "I'd be happy to teach you. Here, let's have our first lesson now."
"Really? That's great!" Cami said eagerly, and jumped to her feet. Kel laughed.
When they were both standing up, Kel looked at Cami, her face serious. "Are you sure that you want to do this? It takes a lot of talent and skill-"
"Yes," said Cami almost forcefully. "I can do this."
Ke shrugged, as if to say 'Suit yourself,' and said, "Ok, here's the basic stance…"
Kel taught Cami some stances and a couple of drills. She was watching Cami try and master them, when she said, "You know, I have my own reasons to talk to you."
"Oh?" replied Cami, who wasn't really paying attention, for she was wrestling with a particularly hard drill.
"Here, let me help you with that," Kel came over to Cami and guided her through the steps. "Now, thrust and parry! Nicely done! Very nicely done!" Kel stepped back, applauding, to watch Cami try it on her own. "I want you to know something. You know when Neal was inspecting you? Well-"
Cami shook her head, knowing already what the knight was going to say. "I know: I'm a mage." At Kel's astonished look, Cami grinned sheepishly. "I overheard. How about I give you a demonstration?"
Kel stepped back. "No, no, I'm fine," she insisted hurriedly. "Really I am."
Cami grinned. "I insist," She twirled a bit of wind in her fingers. It had a silvery glow to it so Kel could see it. Then Cami grabbed more and more of it until it looked like she had a miniature tornado twining around her fingers. "Hmm…I think I'll try something new this time…a wind device…" Then she shaped the wind into something that resembled a board, but it's ends were curved and pointed slightly upward. (A/N: It looked like a skateboard with no wheels) Kel stared at it in awe as Cami hardened the air. She could tell it was so because when Cami picked it up, many tiny dust particles moved with it. "It's an airboard!" Cami beamed proudly.
"M-may I touch it?" whispered Kel, reaching towards it.
"Sure," Cami shrugged. What's the big deal? She wondered. Surely she's seen magic before, after living with folk like Daine the Wildmage, and Numair Salamin. The entire eastern side of the world had heard those legends. Cami watched as the awe-stricken Kel ran her hands over the floating thing. Then she handed it back to Cami wordlessly, who immediately got on it. "Go!" Cami frowned. Why wouldn't it move? She had made this thing to take her places. "GO!" she shouted, then smacked it. Angry, she sent a blast of air towards the ground, which rebounded and hit the bottom of the airboard. It and it's rider went soaring upwards as Kel stared in shock.
"That's it!" Cami yelled down to a now-tiny Kel. "You control the board by wind!" The board dropped, and Cami screamed as they plummeted downwards. Then she sent another blast, this one longer and slower to slow her fall. Once she reached the ground, Cami swung off the board. "Kel, you want to try?"
"I'm not a mage," Kel said, holding back.
Cami moved forward towards the reluctant knight. "You don't have to do anything. I'll control the board. All you have to do is balance yourself. I'm sure you can do that, being a great knight and all."
Cami supposed that it was that last comment that won Kel over, for the knight stepped forward and motioned for Cami to give her the board. Cami grinned and handed it over.
As Kel clambered on, she looked warily at Cami and asked, "Will it hold my weight?"
Cami nodded. "Definitely," Once the woman got on, Cami gave her a blast of air, and she shot up.
"Uh, Cami, next time, please make it go forward instead of up?" When the board reached the ground, Kel looked a little green.
Cami ducked her head sheepishly and said, "Right," The board shot forward, heading straight towards the stables.
"Ahhh, Cami, how do you control this thing?" Kel yelled, and leaned forward, bending her knees, prepared to jump.
Miraculously, the board turned. "Whoa, Cami, how did you do that?" Kel asked, getting off.
"I didn't," Cami's mouth was as dry as paper as she stared at her creation.
"Then what happened?"
"No idea."
Kel eyed the board critically. "Well, if leaning forward makes you turn left, that must mean that leaning backward makes you turn right."
"Exactly!" Cami smiled. "Want another go?"
"No, thanks, I'm finished for the day." Kel stumbled away, muttering about searching for the nearest sink. (A/N: There's my version of how the skateboard was invented! Well, sort of. Lol.)
After a while, Cami was zooming around on the airboard lke she was made to do it. Then she heard the doors' lock being undone, and hopped off, and headed towards the stables. She hid the board in a stack of hay, and leaned against the doorframe, trying to appear casual.
It was only Tobe, coming to teach Cami how to ride a horse. Then it occurred to her that she had something that would take her anywhere a horse would, and farther. But sometimes she would need to be subtle, she realized, and a horse would do just that. Besides, she had asked Tobe, not the other way around, and it would be rude to tell him that she changed her mind. Cami shrugged, and walked up to him. "Hi Tobe."
"Hi Cami," he said. "Ready to ride?"
"I guess," she followed him into the stables.
Tobe walked over to a fidgety mare. "Here, you can ride Moondust. She's an extra."
Cami patted the horse. She was a beautiful thing, midnight black with dustings of white on her head. The name fit her perfectly. The mare snorted and Cami backed away.
"Don't worry; she won't bite. Blow into her nostrils. That's how horses get aquainted."
After a strange look Tobe's way, Cami complied. The horse returned the favor, and Cami giggled.
"Mount up. She likes you." Tobe told her, and held the reins as Cami swung into the saddle.
"How do you know all these things? Like, how the horse likes you, how to treat it, and so on," asked Cami from up top the horse.
Tobe shrugged. "The horse talks to me, and I talk to her. Nothing that special."
"You mean horse magic?" Cami said, and Tobe shrugged again, looking uncomfortable. Cami didn't pursue the subject any further.
Cami rode out of the stables with Tobe leading. He taught her how to use the reins, sit in the saddle correctly, and how to position her feet in the stirrups. The he taught her how to kick the horse into a trot, then a gallop. Cami was a fast learner and Tobe was a good teacher. He talked soothingly, and didn't get angry or yell. Then he let go of the reins, and told Cami to try it on her own. Cami proudly guided the horse around a couple of obstacles, then in a figure eight.
"Great job!" Tobe took the reins while Cami dismounted. "That's it for today, then. We'll continue tomorrow."
"Thanks." Cami said as they locked Moondust's stall.
"It's nothing really," Tobe blushed as they left the stables, and they continued to talk as they walked to the castle.
Cami stopped short. A little girl about nine or ten with black hair and startlingly blue eyes was standing right in front of her, clutching a raggedy doll. Cami bent down. "Why hello there, little girl. What's your name?" The girl didn't answer and Cami could see her eyes clouding. It was most unnerving.
Tobe added, "Cami, this is Irnai. She's also from Scanra, or as far as we know, she is. She's a seer-child. Irnai, this is Cami. She's from Scanra too. Irnai?"
The girl opened her mouth, but instead of a little tiny little girl voice, as soft, whispery voice began to emerge from her mouth.
"Yes, she is the One. The future Elemental-ruler. She will win th hearts of all Scanrans, but one. That one must be eliminated, or her, Maggur, will send the world into chaos. She must be ready, for when the time comes to go, she must go, no matter the consequences of her actions. Armed with weapons, magic, and knowledge, she must defeat Maggur. Get the country, and the world back…"
The girl was silent once more, and her eyes unclouded. She smiled as she said, "Hi Tobe. Hi Cami."
Cami ran back into the stables, grabbed her airboard, and fled back into the safeties of the Mindelan castle.