Tamlin Hastefoot dashed down the central stairs of the Citadel of Light, trailed closely by his teacher, Lorelei Aystere. The kender skipped over the last two steps, landing gracefully on the lawn. He kept running, but then tripped over a rock not five feet from the bottom of the stairwell, spilling his pouches on the grass.
"Tamlin Hastefoot!" Lorelei shouted, only halfway to the bottom. "What do you think you're doing, running off with those spell components? You give them back right now!"
"Miss Lorelei, I have no idea what you're talking about! You said to use whatever I needed for the spell, so I decided to use these," the kender said, scooping miscellaneous items back into his pouches. "I was simply doing what you told me, and then you got all angry!"
"I never-" Lorelei stopped. "Well, I guess I did ell you to use what you need . . ." she said, more to herself than the kender. "But you don't need those! All you need is a little piece of rabbit fur! Why'd you grab the sulfur, guano, pearls and twigs? You're not ready to cast anything that utilizes those components yet!" the mage finally said, out of breath and exasperated.
Tamlin's green eyes dodged back and forth between the spilled components, his own belongings, and his master's searching blue eyes. The kender wondered what she was looking for, when her eyes came to rest on nothingness.
Lorelei's pale blue eyes grew sad, and her red lower lip quivered. Her cheeks, rosy and cold from the chill winds, puffed out as she exhaled, her breath steaming out. She closed her eyes softly and slowly, and finally convinced herself to look at her student.
"Tamlin," she said, her voice wavering slightly, "I've put it off for far too long. I haven't told you yet, because I didn't want you to worry about me."
The kender's eyes shifted slowly from his pouches to his teacher. The green orbs grew wide in anticipation of what might come next.
"What's wrong, Miss Lorelei? Are you sick? You know, I bet it's the food. The cook doesn't look very nice, and he always stares at me like I did something wrong. And there was this one time I swear I saw him throw a rat into the soup pot. You didn't eat it that day, did you? That's probably why you don't feel very well right now." Tamlin beamed after his brilliant deduction.
At the mage's confused look, Tamlin figured it wasn't the food. "Oh, it's not the food?" he piped. "Was it the water, then? Maybe the well's dejected- I mean, injected- no, infected. Yes. Infected. Maybe it's got some disease in it. Oh, I hope it's not the plague. That would be absolutely terrible! Although I wonder what it feels like, having the plague doesn't seem very fun."
A glistening droplet plummeted from the mage's eye, and a small, quivering mesh of laughter and a sigh escaped her parted lips. Oh, how Lorelei would miss her dear friend.
"Tamlin, dear, I'm not ill at all. I've . . . got something worse to tell you."
The kender noted the serious tone of her voice, and commanded his tongue to be serious. But being a kender, that command was easily forgotten.
"Tamlin, I'm . . . I'm going to be going away for a while."
"Away? Where?"
"Well, I've been invited to Palanthas for the Spring Dawning festival this year."
"Oh, how fun! I've never been to a Spring Dawning festival before! I can't wait to go! When do we leave?"
"Tamlin, this is the worst part. You can't come with me." Lorelei's eyes leaked tears like a faucet, and her statement smacked Tamlin like a brick in the face.
"But . . . but . . . Who's going to teach me magic? Surely not the cook!"
Tamlin, there comes a time in all lives when one must learn to teach themselves. Yours is now. I'm leaving copies of all my spells so you can help protect the Citadel."
"Really?" Tamlin's chestnut hair bounced with his face, and he brushed it away. "Which ones?"
"All of them. You're ready enough."
The two spent the remainder of the day together, reminiscing the past few years.
In the predawn, Lorelei left with others to Palanthas.
Tamlin was nowhere to be seen at breakfast.