Chapter Two: Magic Training

Kavu'fon, the grizzly old Witch Doctor, was in quite a predicament, on a harsh archipelago soon to be abandoned by the rest of the tribe, and with a newborn baby to take care of on top of it. Heeding Dokir's dying wish of, "Protect the child," he cleaned the newborn and then swaddled her in a blanket from Dokir's hut. After being fed she quickly fell asleep, so he set the child down and took a look outside. The main invasion was still happening, but the fighting was not close so he went and searched the humans for any more potions. He found a few, along with some week magical trinkets on the female spellcaster, but as he stood near her body he noticed that the corpse was still emanating magical essence. Knowing that, as a troll, the newborn would want some trophy when she was older to testify to her legacy, he stooped down and examined the woman that had almost destroyed a helpless unborn. She was wearing a dress-like attire that was dark blue with strange light blue designs on it and gold trim. There was a fair amount of the swordsman's blood on her from when Dokir had stabbed his side and crushed his arm, and the red spatter made a speckled pattern across the front. But, where the blood had dried and started to flake he noticed that it had not stained the gold trimming, only the blue fabric. It was not actual gold woven into the clothes because he could see the individual strands of colored cloth, so he assumed they were somehow enchanted. Seeing this he stripped the body of its magical clothes, noting as he did how unsightly the human female was.

Looking around he saw the body of the swordsman, now back from its brief time as a frog, that he had killed before tending to Dokir. The axe that the pregnant troll had used to wound him was lying nearby, along with the shield that had been pierced by said weapon. The shield was smaller than those of the other humans, but it was also very light, he found when he picked it up, and it had an emblem on it in the same dark blue color that the other humans boasted. Deciding these would also hold sentimental value, he took them as well. Then he went back for the newborn and brought everything to the safety of his hidden Hut, destroying the healing ward as he went so it would not attract attention. After getting home he laid the child on his hydra-skin cot, not having anywhere else to put her, and sat down for a much needed rest.

As Kavu'fon relaxed and let his mana and strength return he thought about the events of the past few hours. The invasion was not a surprise, he had known for a long time that something was going to happen to the tribe. Ever since arriving after the voyage from the Home Isles he had felt a growing ominousness. That is why he had distanced himself from the tribe. He knew that this would not be the home of the Darkspears, at least not yet, and that they would soon take refuge on the mainland with the green-skins. This was inevitable, what he did was attempt to break himself away from that fate. So when Kavu'fon had heard the sound of explosions he knew that whatever force it was that had come would drive the tribe away, and that it was time to sit in the Hut that he had built specifically to be hard to find and wait it out.

And it was at that moment that, for a reason unknown to him, he felt the urge to check on the unborn he had blessed. Now, he was still a bit confused about how much of the Old Ways was superstitious lunacy and how much was actual magic, after all his spells worked just fine and he never prayed to any Loa in his life, but if there ever was a time in which the Ancestors were trying to tell him something, it was then. He had followed this strange impulse, cautiously leaving his Hut and approaching the edge of he trees that hid it. Staying out of sight, there was an invasion going on after all, he had summoned a sentry ward on the edge of the water so that he could see what was happening. That is how he saw the trolls fighting a small battle against humans. There were no human reinforcements around, so the risk of ruining his plan was low. Then he saw the spear Dokir threw, and the spell in retaliation from the floating lady. Dokir slowed down, and the second spell hit her stomach. It was then that he had jumped onto the raft started paddling like Fel. He had just gotten close enough to be able help when Dokir fell back, having been cut badly. Hoping to save her he summoned the healing ward, then hexed the human and killed him. Seeing Dokir had lost consciousness he had cast healing wave on her, but although it healed her wounds completely it didn't help. He had gone for the potion the man had been about to drink and poured it down Dokir's throat, but even after all he had done Dokir had lost too much blood.

Kavu'fon abruptly came back to the present as the child woke up, having not been fed for almost half an hour. My Loa, the aged hermit thought to himself wearily, why did I get myself into this? As old as I am, raising a young troll alone in a harsh setting is not going to be easy.

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A couple of years passed mostly uneventfully for Kavu'fon and Zufli (that is what he decided to name the child), though the Isles were far from calm. He watched as his tribe fled before the humans, and how the humans left soon after, leaving a small, well defended base on the remains of the village's old center. It was attacked by murlocs and spider crabs a few times, but eventually the stupid creatures realized that assaulting the humans was suicidal. A nearby clan of Stormreaver mages had a bloody coup that lit up one night with flashes of lightning and fire. Zufli had trouble sleeping that night because of the screaming. Then, after a long period of calm, the human settlement was actually challenged by a small swarm of hydra, but the spellcasters eventually organized and polymorphed several of the serpents at once, turning the battle in their favor. The old Witch Doctor kept himself and the child alive by staying well away from any of these groups, holed up in the well hidden and defensible ravine the Hut was in. He feed himself and the young one mostly by fishing out in the sheltered cove that he hid his raft in and growing edible plants near the Hut, as he was far too old to be hunting.

No, the only really important thing that happened to Kavu'fon, safe and sound from any threat, was when Zufli, at two years old, suddenly waved her small hand and set his robe on fire. It was rather unexpected, as most magic performed by infants is, but he was able to put it out before getting burned. After giving a stern look to the child, who quickly stopped her babyish giggling, he started planning on how he was going to train a magic user. Starting training early so that the young troll could establish firm control over her powers was essential. He had been talking to her in both troll and common for a long time, both to eventually teach her to speak and as a way to keep himself sane, so he simply started talking about Voodoo and Magic to introduce her to the subjects.

He found it very strange, however, that she could do magic at all. He had been taught that one had to pray to the Loa and the Ancestors, and by extension you had to know what they were, to have any chance to do magic. Kavu'fon knew this to be false, because he himself simply drew his power from the natural elements and spirits around him. But, even then, he had to be instructed a little about the superstitions of his elders before making that leap on his own and teaching himself how, so he didn't understand how Zufli was able to tap into magic without any instruction at all.

Zufli was walking around before her first magic, so being outside was a bit necessary for her. She was only two feet tall and maybe forty-five pounds, but she had already outgrown the hut for everything except sleeping. She demonstrated her accidental magic several more times in the next few years, but none of it was as dangerous as her debut with the fire. Her first word was her name, because it was the word the Witch Doctor most used around her, but soon after that she was saying other things and some of them she even understood what they meant.

By the time she was two and a half she could speak well enough to be understood. The first thing the hermit tried to teach her was to control her magic, and this was met with surprising success. Then he started on basic magics like making a blade of grass grow or using magic to lessen the noise made when walking. While she was learning these, she also started exploring farther beyond the small clearing around the hut. There where a few short mountains that cut the Hut off from the the rest of the island, so the old hermit let Zufli run off as long as she promised to stay close to the hut and off the mountains. Then he would follow her movements using sentry wards.

She was four the first time she got far enough up the hills that he could not keep track of her. She came back fine, but as soon as she got back he gave her a stern look and she gave a nervous smile, knowing he knew she had done wrong but not sure how he knew. Then he said, "Come wit' me, young one."

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Zufli knew she was in for it now. E'chuta, she thought to herself. She didn't know exactly what that meant, but she had heard Kavu'fon say it a few times under his breath when he was angry or in a situation that was not good. That was definitely the way she would describe her current situation. Not good. She followed the old Witch Doctor as he led the way out of the clearing around the Hut, along the water's edge to where the raft was kept. She had never been on the raft before. They only stayed on it until they were out of the ravin and into water that was a bit open, then they beached, hid the raft and started walking. They went far, much farther from the Hut than Zufli had ever been, and she was starting to get nervous. What would the punishment be? She had disobeyed him before on small things, but he had made it clear that it was important to stay close to the Hut. Suddenly Kavu'fon stopped and held his hand up. He turned around slowly and whispered, "Use magic to walk quietly," then fell into a crouch, joints cracking as he did, and slowly led the way off into the dense jungle to the left. Zufli followed, doing as she was told. She still hadn't really gotten the manipulation of magic required to pull it off, but her time spent playing in the trees near the house and her natural troll stealthiness helped her stay quiet.

Again Kavu'fon stopped. He appeared to be looking at something, and this time he motioned for her to come forward. She did, coming up to the edge of the trees and looking out. She saw a small encampment of what looked like the green-skins Kavu'fon had described to her, although she did see a few trolls among them. Most of them were bent and crooked, and they were all carrying staffs, so she guessed they could do magic. Wondering why he brought her here, she looked up and Kavu'fon, but he had a look of concentration on his face so she did not ask. After a few seconds the old Witch Doctor seemed to relax and looked down at Zufli. Then he said, "Look, near the entrance to the camp." He pointed and she saw a turtle as big as her with large spikes on it's back sitting just outside the encampment where there had not been one before. As she watched it charged at the green-skins, catching them by surprise. Every person in the encampment unleashed a volley of spells and magic that hit the turtle. It slowed, and before it could get close enough to hurt any of the green-skins it vanished with a crackle of lightning.

"Time ta go," the old hermit said and quickly fell back farther into the trees. Zufli followed, and caught up as Kavu'fon turned to face her in a small clearing. He made a gesture at the jungle they had just come from and she saw two wards pop into existence. Then they zigzagged through more jungle, Kavu'fon dropping another ward every so often, until they made it back to the raft, which they rode to the Hut.

Once they were safe again Kavu'fon set a sentry ward at the inlet of the cove the hut was near, just in case the Stormreavers were somehow able to track the difficult trail they had left, and turned to Zufli. She looked down, not being able to meet his eyes, and he said, "Zufli, look up." She complied ashamedly, and he continued, "Now ya see why ya not supposed ta be wanderin' de Isles?"

"Yes Kavu'fon."

Letting a second pass, he asked, "Why ya not supposed to be wanderin' de Isles?"

"Because, uh... T'ere be dangerous t'ings on de Isles."

"So, knowin' dat, why ya be goin' up de mountains earlier?"

She mumbled, "I don' know, I guess I just be getting bored o' seeing de same old t'ing..."

She trailed off and Kavu'fon said, "Zufli, de mountains and de jungles around here be the only t'ing protectin' us from what lurks on d'ese Isles. Ya can't be goin' farther out d'an dat."

Zufli didn't leave the valley after that for a long time, practicing sneaking and tracking only in the small patch of jungle around the Hut.

The day after the little incident she started asking about the people that they had seen, and Kavu'fon told her about the Stormreaver Warlocks. They were a band of renegade warlocks, mostly orc but with a few trolls, that stayed to the dangerous interior of the island because it dissuaded most people from getting near them. They were also rather powerful magic users, so they could defend themselves well from the other things on the island. This subject led to more about magic and soon Zufli was learning about summoning and collecting mana from the surrounding life and spirits (or, as Kavu'fon explained it to her, what he thought were spirits. He was not sure what they were). Zufli learned the proper way to access mana, but once she finally tapped into the source Kavu'fon showed her, she found it felt weird. She could use mana, she had been able to since before she was even able to think, but that mana and the mana Kavu'fon taught her to find were very different. She found that they were similar, in that she could use them both to do spells, but it was like they had their own flavor. She tried to explain this to the old Witch Doctor.

The aged troll took a few minutes to ponder the information before saying, "I t'ink I know what happened, de problem is d'ere is no way ta be sure. I been wondering about how ya be using magic before ya be able ta get ta de mana. Now, I been tellin' ya before about yo' parents, but when yo' mom be fightin' de human witch, she took a spell to de stomach. Dat is where ya where, inside o' her. I t'ink, when de spell hit ya, it changed ya and made ya able ta use de human magics. It would explain how ya could be doin' magic before ya could even talk."

This intrigued Zufli. She was a little angry that the race that killed her mother was somehow connected with her, but on the other hand she liked the feel of her mana. It was familiar, more so than the mana Kavu'fon used, because she was used to using it more.

"Okay, so, which one should I use?" she asked.

"For now, I t'ink ya should use de one I taught ya. I' not sure what will happen if ya be doin' anyt'ing complex with yo' magic."

From there she began learning more complex magic. Kavu'fon had her practice her old spells of growth and stealth with the new mana so that she got better with it. He told her that she should be able to draw the nature energy to herself all the time, not even needing to think about it. Once she was able to do that, which took her two months of practice, she started to learn the basics of transfiguration. That was a step up from the growth spells. It took her several weeks before she was able to consistently change a four inch long lizard into a worm for ten seconds. When she started playing around with the same spell using her mana (she felt very strongly that it was hers), she found that it was much easier and much more powerful that way, but she didn't tell Kavu'fon that. She just used the "normal" mana when she was around him.

After she was good enough to practice that on her own Kavu'fon started on summoning. He explained that there were spirits of living things all around that had not passed on and were not restless enough to harm the physical world as undead. These spirits could be summoned by giving them the energy needed to take physical form again. He told her that there were other ways to summon as well, but most of them involved demon magics that were evil and summoned things from other worlds that were difficult to control.

Kavu'fon taught her the technique to search the area for the spirits, then told to her try to summon something. It took her a few tries to successfully locate a spirit, or at least what she thought was a spirit. Kavu'fon had instructed her to concentrate on it and try to study it, so she sat there for a while trying to understand the creature/spirit thing. She was able to tell that it was small and it moved around a lot, but most of the time it seamed to be above her. The longer she looked at it (hypothetically, because she was not using her eyes to observe the thing), the more she learned about it. Thinking she was ready to try and summon it, she pushed energy at it and tried convey that she wanted it to use the energy to come to the physical world. It took a while longer than she thought it would, but eventually she felt mana start to flow to her hands and before she knew it the form of a bird was shimmering in the air in front of her, with ragged arching bands of blue energy connecting it with each of her hands. She felt the mana waning and the glowing strands that connected her with the bird dispersed, but it's darkly colored form solidified and continued to flutter just in front of her, held in the physical world by the creature's force of will and Zufli's magic.

She noticed that she seemed to have some sort of mental connection with the inky bird, and when she reacher a finger out it perched on the digit immediately. She smiled, realizing that she had actually created the living thing in front of her. It was a bit surreal. Lifting her arm and with a quick thought, she had the bird take flight and circle around the Hut. Unfortunately, it vanished in a shower of sparks only a few seconds after she set it loose, but when she turned to Kavu'fon she saw his large toothy grin of pride.

"Taz'dingo! Ha, dat was brilliant, mon! I haven't seen a first try dat good in a long time."

Kavu'fon called it a night after that, when Zufli said her mana was too low to try again. At least, the mana that counted was. She knew she still had a fair amount of her mana, but she was not going to try to summon with that anytime soon because the combination might react badly and have harmful effects. Zufli was too tired from her exertion to practice on her own, so she just went to bed.

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Zufli woke suddenly. She bolted upright in her cot, looking around the small enclosure that was her room, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She listened, trying to catch the noise that had woken her, and when she heard it again it was distant so she almost missed it. The soft whoosh of a stun ward going off was just barely discernible through the thin walls of the Hut. Then she felt mana being drawn up nearby, probably by Kavu'fon, and the sound of fighting quickly filled the night air. They were being attacked.